Power Rangers: Lost Ninjas
by Michelle the Editor
Summary: Lothor's empire of space ninjas didn't capture quite all of the schools they attacked. A few scattered students from the Terra, Earthlight, Ethereal and Season Ninja Academies begin forming alliances with each other, to fight back, get home, or even destroy each other.
1. Chapter 1: Four Academies

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers. The OCs that appear here belong to DeathDealer1997 (who has provided many awesome non-Rangers), kandyapple12, and myself.

Warning: This is going to be my second-anniversary-on-the-site fic, due to the fact that it's rapidly becoming a mammoth of a fic, so chapter 2 will appear October 9th of this year.

***China, January 28th, 3:48 am***

"Zart, please come out of the building with your hands in the air," a police megaphone echoed through the dingy apartment building. The order was repeated in Chinese, and inside Apartment 32, Zart crouched in the bathtub, hugging his knees to his chest and breathing very quickly.

The searchlights outside gleamed off his shaven head and the flame tattoo on his forehead. The Asian man's patched, dirty clothes were scorched at the edges, and the entire apartment was dotted with black patches, all barely visible even with the severe light pollution outside.

"Zart, come out or we will be forced to come in after you," the policeman called. Zart laughed under his breath. There was a psychotic glitter in his eyes.

"Like you'd dare," he hissed, and began creeping towards the window. Peeking out, he focused on the cars parked in the street, sirens flashing. Grinning, Zart focused on their gas tanks, and hoped they were full. He raised a hand.

Then he heard a door shatter, and running footsteps downstairs. Zart sat up straight. They were actually coming after him—they must have some plan. They'd seen enough of their cop friends barbecued all those other times, and they weren't suicidal.

Now they were kicking the doors open one by one, drawing closer. Zart looked around wildly, and then gestured down at the cars. The closest one exploded, throwing police in every direction. With a laugh, Zart directed the flames towards the next one. The cops were fleeing in every direction, panicking, and a few were on fire. The sight brought back some happy memories, but Zart quickly refocused on the task at hand.

Then the door smashed inwards, and Zart whirled around. The policeman, in full riot gear, let out a shout, and his friends ran for him. Quickly, Zart sprang up and focused on the man. Just a spark, that was all he needed—

Then the police turned on the fire hose. The flames that had begun licking at the floorboards were extinguished in a second, and as Zart let out a cry of protest, they turned the hose on him. It swept his feet out from under him and slammed him into the wall, denting the drywall. Zart screamed in rage and pain, and tried to call on his abilities to no avail.

After five long minutes, the hose turned off, and Zart crumpled to the shag carpeted-floor, gasping. His chest ached, and he felt more battered than he had since living with his father. The men came forward, cautiously, and Zart spat curses at them. He wanted desperately to set them on fire, watch them scream and writhe as they burned to death, but he could barely even get up.

One of the men sat on Zart's back, and the others quickly grabbed the young man's limbs as he began flailing. Just as they got one of the handcuffs on, there was a burst of energy. The policemen all cried out and sprang up, and Zart lifted his head.

In the middle of the room stood what might have been a man, in insect-like armor. His helmet was angular and green, with two multifaceted red eyes and a gold crest between them. A red cape flowed down to his mid-calves, and his armor was green with rings and crescents of gold, covering his chest, shoulders, arms and legs.

Silently, the stranger drew a scimitar from his hip, and pointed it at the policemen. The men started running, but a few lingered, drawing their pistols and shouting warnings at the newcomer. With a casual flick of his wrist, the newcomer sent blasts of green energy from his sword into the police, throwing them to the ground, unconscious.

Shakily, Zart pushed himself up on one hand. The handcuff clinked, and his arms trembled. Then a gloved, armored hand caught him by the shoulder, and Zart looked up at the armored stranger.

"…What?" Zart panted. The stranger pulled him to his feet, and the two teleported out with a flash of green light, leaving the stunned or dead policemen alone as sirens wailed outside.

They materialized in a shadowy, shiny black room, and Zart whirled. He stared at the wide, nearly empty room, still dripping. In the middle of the room was a huge glass screen, on which rotated the image of a tropical island. Then there were footsteps and the rustle of cloth, and Zart turned around.

"You've gotten him? Excellent!" A woman exclaimed. She was clad in draping blue silk and tight black leather. Her blue hair flowed down her back, held in place by a black cloth bound around her forehead. She looked Zart up and down, and grimaced. "I thought he'd be a bit more impressive than this."

"Impressive?" Zart snapped his fingers, and the woman's sleeve burst into flames. With a startled cry, she beat it out as the warrior raised his sword. Looking furious, the woman gestured, and the fluttery blue fabric around her arm shot towards Zart, quickly winding about him and tightening. He choked.

"Xumara," the insect warrior rumbled, in a very deep voice. Chest heaving, the woman looked to him, and then drew back. The tendrils left red marks on Zart's body, and he made a private note to pay this Xumara back someday.

"You're Zart?" The woman asked. The human nodded. "This is my husband, Korassil. Since we saved your miserable hide back there—" Korassil cut her off.

"We've heard about you, and what you can do," the insectoid warrior said, coming around to stand beside his wife.

"Such as?" Zart asked. Korassil finally sheathed his sword, and Zart started trying to wring out his clothes. The damp rags clung to his lean, pale body.

"You're powerful, violent, and highly destructive."

"Thank you!" Zart gave them a bright smile. "You making an offer?"

"We could use a man willing to burn anything in his path," Korassil replied.

"You've got one." Xumara matched his evil smile with one of her own.

"Excellent. After you've rested—and gotten a change of clothes," the woman said, looking Zart up and down, "have you ever visited the Caribbean?"

***The Northern Appalachians, February 2nd, 1:48 pm***

"What do you have to say for yourself, Nico?" Sensei Blackfeather gave the black-haired teenager standing in front of him a hard look. The two stood in Blackfeather's equivalent of an office, which was small and mostly wood-paneled. Outside, other members of the Terra Ninja Academy trained in the grounds. The afternoon was cold and grey, and snow blanketed the mountain.

"It wasn't my fault," Nico replied, not looking up. "Angela and Michael were asking for it." The brown seventeen-year-old kept his hands clasped behind his back, staring down at his boots. His lone earring glinted as he shifted under Blackfeather's gaze, and his uniform jacket—brown, with the Terra Ninja Academy's sigil on either shoulder—creaked a little. His pants had come untucked, and the jacket was buttoned wrong.

"They asked you to turn into stone and chase them down the halls? The _wooden_ halls?" Most of the school was built from materials the students didn't learn to manipulate, as a precaution. Unfortunately, Terra Ninja abilities were quite destructive when used in the wrong way.

"They wouldn't leave me alone. I asked them _nicely_ five times." Blackfeather shook his head, and turning to a window, ran a hand through his quiff of black hair.

"This is the fifth incident you've caused this year. I am a patient man, Nico, but you are simply not improving."

"I'm sorry," Nico said, looking alarmed, but Blackfeather cut him off. There was a thrumming noise outside, probably an airplane passing too close.

"That's what you said last time, and the time before. I'm afraid—"

But Nico never heard what his Sensei was afraid of. At that moment, there was a massive explosion on the grounds, followed by some screams. Forgetting all about Nico, Blackfeather ran out of the room, letting the door slam behind him.

Nico stood there until he couldn't hear the Sensei's footsteps anymore. Then he bolted for the window, and looked out. His green eyes went wide. A fleet of small spaceships were heading towards the school, and they'd already begun shooting at the students. Other creatures rappelled down into the grounds from the flying ships, and engaged the students already there.

Quickly, Nico ran back to Blackfeather's desk, and began frantically going through the drawers. Papers, photographs, books—there! A lacquered black case lay underneath a stack of files, embossed with the sigil of the Terra Ninja Academy—a blue circle with four red wedges.

Pulling it out, Nico set it down and opened it, and then paused. Inside the box, four morphers nestled in red velvet. Letting out a slow breath, Nico ran his fingers across them, almost forgetting the chaos outside. Then an uncomfortably close explosion roused him. Quickly, he seized the one with a blue coin, and slamming the lid shut, shoved the box back into the drawer.

Nico was already in the hall and running when one wall exploded inwards. With a yell, he stumbled away, shielding his face from the splintering wood. A monster squeezed inside, saw the cowering boy, and laughed mockingly.

"What's the matter, lit—" Nico somersaulted towards the monster, slamming his now-stone feet into its legs. With a yell of pain, the monster stumbled back, and Nico flipped himself upright. With a series of stone-fisted rapid jabs, the ninja forced the monster back. It fell against a wall, and then to the floor.

"You tell me what's the matter, pipsqueak!" The teen yelled, finishing the monster off with a solid axe kick. The creature just let out a yell of pain. Then, turning away, Nico raised his hands. With a crackle, his entire body turned into stone beneath his uniform. Nico ran on down the hallway, leaving the sore monster behind.

The teen slammed through wall after wall, ignoring the chaos around him and ducking when something got too close. Finally, he breached the school wall and was out in the grounds. The snow came up to his mid-shins, but the cold didn't bother him while in rock form. Already breathless, the teen focused on the whitened mountains ahead of him, and picked up the pace. He heard a monster yell, and grinned fiercely. _Sure, chase me, you pig, but the mountains are _my_ element—literally._

***New Zealand, February 2nd, 7:48 pm***

A single human man stood in the empty street, a summer twilight casting his shadow on the pavement before him. A few drivers were heading home from work, and the traffic was barely busy. The gym across the street was all but empty—at least, it appeared to be.

The man smiled slowly, and started across the street. His metal cane tapped the ground as he walked, though it was clear from his strong stride that he didn't need it. The gym's air conditioning rumbled overhead, but it didn't dissipate the sweaty atmosphere of the bright yellow-and-green place.

Stopping in the middle of the room, the man glanced around, smiled, and reached into his suit jacket's inside pocket. One woman stopped her treadmill and looked at him, brow furrowed suspiciously as she tried to place his face.

"If I were you," the man announced, revealing a crisp New England accent, "I'd leave at once, while you still can." At this threat, the five or so people stopped what they were doing. Everyone but two—a brawny man and a teenage girl at the counter—ran for the doors, brushing past the Thinker as they went.

"Who do you think you are?" The man growled, glaring at the narrow, bespectacled stranger before him. With a smirk, the newcomer drew out his hand, revealing a silvery metal ball. Eyes widening, the muscled man backed up, eyeing the device.

"You can call me the Thinker," he said. Pushing a button in the center of the ball, he dropped it on the floor. With a rattling noise, the ball split into two, then four, then eight. The balls rolled all around the room, the brawny man looking at them in alarm. "It's always cretins like you that don't listen to warnings. You deserve this."

The balls, now dozens of them, suddenly sprouted spider-like legs and began elongating; unfolding and reconnecting like a complex metal origami into a set of hunchbacked, spider-limbed robots. The girl behind the counter screamed and dove behind it. Their arms unfolded into two sets of guns, and they began advancing on the bodybuilder.

Smiling, the Thinker stepped around them and headed to the counter. A few blue laser beams, and the man cried out as he was vaporized. All that was left was a white mark on the floor where his feet had been. The Thinker had already reached the counter, but as he looked around it, he raised one dark eyebrow. The girl was gone.

"A student," he murmured, and smiled. "Spider Drones! Create a perimeter around the building and begin searching for entrances! Do not let one of the ninjas escape!" With beeps and clicks of assent, the Spider Drones got to work.

***The Himalayas, February 2nd, 1:33 am***

Tauza slashed aside a charging teenager with a single stroke of her claws, and went to the wall. Her black hair was starting to fall out of the braids wound around her head, and her face and purple armor were smudged with dirt. This computerized room was nearly empty, and looked almost untouched. The battle had already moved into the lower halls of the Ethereal Academy.

Going to one computer, Tauza transformed her claws back into fingers and typed in a quick code. Her slanted eyes were narrowed with concentration, and she winced a little as the gashes on her knuckles hurt. The screen filled with white noise for a moment, and then cut to a wide-angled female face. Tauza winced.

"Aunt Tauza?" The grating female voice asked. Tauza got a good look at the woman's pink eyeliner before she backed up.

"Hello, Kapri, don't say anything and put Lothor on the line," she ordered. Kapri opened her mouth to speak, but Tauza gave her a death glare, and the centipede-like crown wrapping around the back of her head wriggled. With a little squeak, Kapri darted out of the frame.

There was a crash outside the room, and some screams. Bits of golden light shot through the door's cracks, and Tauza could hear the noises of battle. She smirked a little, but switched back to a businesslike expression as Lothor walked into view.

"I'll have the entire Ethereal Academy in a few minutes."

"How few?" Lothor asked, folding his arms. Tauza glared at him. Somewhere in the walls, a pipeline burst, and water began pouring out of it.

"Under half an hour. It'll take us a few days to search the caves fully, though. The walls are difficult to scan through."

"Once I've taken care of the Wind Ninjas I'll send you my ship. You can just grab everyone left," Lothor said. Tauza nodded curtly. There was a dull rumble somewhere below her. Lothor waved. "See you then!"

"Of course." Tauza turned off the transmission with a growl. As she turned towards the door, the general thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Turning, Tauza looked around the room, but saw nothing. Frowning, she left, heading back to the lower levels to rejoin the battle.

***Trivia***

General Tauza's name and centipede theme is based of the Hurricaneger's original villain, General Tau (or sometimes Tao) Zanto.**  
**


	2. Chapter 2: Earthlight Burns

Disclaimer: The characters herein belong to DeathDealer1997, Rye Lee and WolfsbaneX, along with a few from me, and the world to Saban Entertainment.

Okay, here's how this will work. Each chapter will focus on one school and the characters around them. This means that for now, if you only care about the school your OC is in, you can skip chapters (until they start to blur later on, anyway.) You should also read the villain scenes added to chapter 1, if you haven't already.

Thanks to all the submitters, and whee! Two years of fanfiction!

***Earthlight Island, February 1st, 5:13 pm***

A strawberry blonde named Jess headed down a dirt trail towards the assembly compound. Above her, the long-dormant volcano that had formed the island rose through the greenery, its top wreathed in grey clouds, and a flock of colorful birds flew past it. Animals, birds and insects chirred and squeaked in the jungle around them, voices echoing almost eerily. The forest blazed bright green in the late afternoon sunlight, the thatched huts and bungalows forming parts of Earthlight Academy pale yellow smudges among the greenery. The school was spread all across the small island, mostly outdoors.

The compound ahead was a clearing of packed dirt, the banners of each discipline set up around its edges. In the center was a bamboo stage, empty for the moment. Breaking through the trees, Jess quickly joined the other Flame Ninjas underneath their pink banner. Sensei Louisa Wu was trying to quiet the chattering teenagers and children down. Wading in, Jess pulled two adolescent boys away from each other, and gave them both hard looks. Looking self-conscious and irritated, they pulled away and moved to opposite sides of the group.

A Filipino man almost thirty, Sensei Kai, stepped onto a bamboo stage, and all four groups of students hushed. Silently, the four teachers gathered their students into orderly groups, and stood at attention. Jess clasped her hands behind her back, watching the Sensei. He was excited; even though he hid it well enough to look dignified, he kept messing with his robe collar.

Sensei Kai addressed the group. "The Ninja Academies were created to protect the Earth and her inhabitants from evil. Since the arrival of the Power Rangers, one by one, each Ninja Academy has adopted their technology, in order to do so against the new threats our world faces. I am happy to say that we have finally completed our own addition to the arsenal."

Sensei Kai stepped back. His wife, Celia, stepped forward, holding a tray covered with a pennant. It was blue with four interlocking green rings, the symbol of Earthlight Academy—matching the one on the back of the Sensei's robe. With a flourish, Sensei Kai whipped the cloth away, revealing four copper-bound black devices lying in deep blue velvet, beside them four different-colored amulets. There were excited whispers and exclamations. Even Jess's stomach filled with butterflies. Sensei Kai hadn't let anyone see the morphers until now, not even his own family.

"I have already asked the Earthlight Masters to choose one student each to assume this power," Sensei Kai continued, turning to face the group again. He was still holding the pennant, behind his back. Jess just knew he was folding it, the neat freak; she swallowed a giggle. At a nod from the Sensei, the four teachers came forward, and exchanged bows with the Sensei.

"Shawn Kerr, step forward," Master Lopes said. There were groans and excited noises from the Lifelight Ninjas, and a slim black boy came forward. With a confident grin, he climbed the steps to the stage, bowed to his Master and the Sensei, and accepted the morpher. Jess smiled. Shawn definitely deserved this, after all the work he'd done.

"Jessica Walsh, step forward," Master Wu called. Jess froze. Oh. Okay. After a second, she started towards the stage, feeling everyone's eyes on her. There were a few mutinous mutters, and she avoided looking at her fellow students. Even after all these years, people thought she got special favors for being the Sensei's adopted sister.

Sensei Kai didn't even look at her as they exchanged bows. As she took her gear and joined Shawn, the sky darkened. A wind picked up, and a bank of dark clouds began to roll in. Jess hid a wince. Another big storm on the way, probably. As Master Lopes began to ask for the St. Elmo's Fire Ranger, a gust tore a few of the flags off their posts. Now people were starting to look around nervously, pull on their jackets.

Then the stage burst into flames. Everyone jumped back, a few students screaming, and Master Wu gestured at the fire. Instead of flying into the air or dying like it usually did at her command, it grew, and formed into a man. Jess's jaw dropped.

He was Asian, with a bald, gleaming head tattooed with a flame. The fire collapsed into his robes, red and orange. With a too-wide smile, he looked around at the startled people. Jess backed up a little, not sure what to do. Something told her that breathing fire wasn't going to help here.

"I'm Zart. I want those." He pointed to the morphers. Jess automatically clamped a free hand over hers, but Shawn stepped forward. The tall teen wore a cocky smirk.

"Sorry, you can't have them."

Without a word, Zart threw a crimson fireball at the boy. It slammed into his chest, burning right through and leaving a blackened hole. Shawn was dead before he hit the ground. Screaming broke out, and Zart let out an unmistakably psychopathic laugh. But as he did, a younger Lifelight student leaped out of the crowd. The kid, who couldn't have been more than fourteen despite his scraggly beard, ripped the amulet and morpher out of Shawn's limp hand, and held them up.

"Here, then, take them, just leave us alone!" He yelled. There were a few startled shouts that sounded like "Rat!" from behind him, but the kid ignored them.

Zart cocked his head to one side. He eyed the terrified Lifelight Ninja, not seeming to notice the teachers exchange grim glances behind his back. Jess looked from Shawn's body to Zart, feeling like she would throw up. What had that felt like…she didn't want to know.

"You know, I may just let you live." Then Zart smirked. "No, my Fiery Salamanders are hungry." Fire rose up around the edges of his robe, the flames leaping away from him. Growing, they became massive lizards, standing on two legs and bodies made of fire. Their eyes blazed blue, and with crackling hisses, they leaped into the crowd. The students scattered, some trying to fight back, others just running for their lives.

Jess ducked as a fire monster leaped over her head, scorching her back. She rolled off the stage and tried to follow Zart, only for one of the now-burning banner posts to fall in her path. Yanking the pink amulet off her neck, she held her morpher up over her head, yanking it back to head height as she spoke.

"Earthlight Storm, Ranger Form!" Holding out the amulet before her, she shoved it into the indentation, and there was a pink flash.

_Jess stands in a fiery sunset. As she throws her arms out, her ninja uniform burns away to reveal her Pink Ranger suit. Her face guard and visor close around her head, and she strikes a wide stance, back right leg folded, left extended before her. She raises her arms, both palms flat, left hand before her, right slanted at her chest._

_"Power of Fire!"_

Jess caught her breath. She wore a pink skirted uniform, the arms and legs coppery, with a chain-mail pattern. From her hip hung a katana, and the fire symbol blazed white on her chest. The Fiery Salamander drew back, eyes narrowing and tail beginning to lash.

"Wicked!" Jess cried, and drew the sword. "Earthlight Katana!"

With a yell, she charged, swinging the katana over her head. It sliced into the Fiery Salamander, dicing it into shreds which fell and smothered in the dirt. Jess whooped, giving the weapon a twirl, and ran to the rest.

***Forest Trail, 5:47 pm***

Wyatt was lost. Again. It was getting dark, too. With a sigh, he sat down on a boulder and looked around, running a hand through his light hair. His normally pale skin was splotched with bright pink patches of sunburn, which already stung. There were a lot of night animals moving around in the jungle, chirruping and whistling and running. The air was hot and humid, smelling faintly like smoke. This was the weirdest part of Sweden he'd ever been.

Then Wyatt saw a light in the distance. It was huge and yellow, showing through the trees. Relieved, he got up and started towards it. Wherever he was, they really liked their bonfires huge...wait...the school? This was a school or a summer camp or something, wasn't it?

Wyatt looked down at himself. He was wearing a red and grey uniform, and a very dirty one at that. He'd fallen down a couple of times. Sensei Dharma was going to be mad again. Oh! Sensei Dharma! That made it a school or something. Right, now Wyatt remembered, he'd been on his way to some kind of big, important all-school meeting and gotten lost. Vaguely, he thought this had happened before.

There was a faint rumble, and Wyatt looked up at the mountain. Black ash was beginning to cloud the sky above it. That…wasn't good. He needed to tell somebody. Breaking into a run, Wyatt dashed through the jungle, not really noticing how much of it was already on fire. Skidding to a halt, he stared around the dirt compound in bewilderment.

Most of the students were already running, pursued by blazing Fiery Salamanders. A haze of smoke hovered over the compound, and the teachers were trying to fight off Zart—who to Wyatt looked basically like a human torch right now. There was also a Pink Ranger slicing her way through Fiery Salamanders with a coppery katana.

Wyatt scratched his head, cocking it to one side. "What's going on?" He asked nobody in particular. One of the Salamanders noticed him, and turned towards him with a snarl. Starting to feel a little worried, Wyatt began backing away from the monster, hands raised. On the other side of the clearing, one of the teachers was enveloped in flames, Wyatt couldn't tell which. Peals of psychotic laughter echoed around the compound.

Then Wyatt was startled by a shriek. It was coming from behind the stage—the bamboo house a few meters back, on fire like everything else. Swerving around the Fiery Salamander—it spat sparks, which he avoided—Wyatt sprang over the stage and ran up to the house. The monster swung after him, only to be decapitated by the Pink Ranger. Whirling her katana, she hacked it to bits, stomping out the flames as they hit the ground.

"Hello?" Wyatt yelled at the house. The shrieks and crying went on—it was way too high-pitched to be a grown-up. With a helpless shrug, Wyatt ran up the porch and slammed the door open, charging into the smoke-filled house. The elegant, antique furniture was blazing away merrily, as were most of the hangings on the walls.

Wheezing, eyes watering, Wyatt tracked the crying to a closet in the corner. He yanked it open, and found a two-year-old Filipino girl huddled inside. Carefully, Wyatt pulled her out, and the toddler clung to him like a monkey, choking him. He ran back outside, nearly doubled over, and right into another Fiery Salamander. It snarled. Backing up, Wyatt stared at the thing, wondering how to fight it.

"Hey!" The female voice made Wyatt look up. The Pink Ranger lobbed something at him, and he lunged to catch it. The Fiery Salamander snapped at him, but he twisted away at the very last second. His untied shoelaces caught fire, and with a yelp, he kicked the shoe away. It hit the Fiery Salamander, which snapped it up immediately.

"Morph!" The Pink Ranger yelled, impaling another Fiery Salamander. Wyatt looked down at the device, bewildered. The amulet swung wildly from its chain, a white volcano on a red background. With perfect timing, the volcano let out a boom, filling the already-darkening sky with blackness. "Now! Say Earthlight Storm, Ranger Form and put the amulet in the slot!" She demonstrated the gestures as she spoke.

"Okay…" Wyatt said, shifting his grip on the toddler. Still bawling, she clung to him, but with a little trouble, he got the amulet in its slot. Straightening, he raised his fist. "Earthlight Storm, Ranger Form!"

_Wyatt stands before an erupting volcano. As he throws his arms out, his ninja uniform shatters to reveal his Scarlet Ranger suit. His face guard and visor close over his face, and he drops into a low stance, right leg bent back, left extended, right arm arched back and left raised with the palm forward._

_"Power of Magma!"_

The toddler stopped crying for a second, startled by the change. Wyatt looked himself up and down, gaping under his helmet. It wasn't just red and copper spandex…all of a sudden he felt like he could actually fight something and _win_.

Then the Fiery Salamander leaped at him. With a startled yell, Wyatt swung around to shield the toddler, throwing up an arm instinctively. His fist struck something red-hot even through his glove, and the monster fell sideways as he twisted away.

"Um…okay, here, ride piggyback," Wyatt said, shifting the little girl around to his back. Her short arms choked him a little, but it was only slightly irritating. "Earthlight Katana!" Drawing the sword, he ran forward and stabbed the Fiery Salamander. It howled, and he started slicing at it. The blade went through the monster like a hot knife through butter, and soon it collapsed into nothing.

That was when the toddler screamed again, this time in pain. Hot ash was raining out of the sky, burning her. Quickly, Wyatt swung her around in front again and hunched over, trying to shield her. Only now did he realize that, apart from the Pink Ranger, there were no other people left in the compound. All around them, the jungle blazed. Even through a veil of smoke, the mouth of the volcano glowed an angry red.

"Should we leave?" Wyatt called to the Pink Ranger. She turned from a Fiery Salamander in its death throes, yanking out her katana. The blade was scorched black.

"What?" Wyatt realized one of the downed flags hadn't caught fire yet. Charging over, he tore the cyan cloth free and wrapped the toddler in it.

"The volcano's erupting, I don't think we want to be here when it happens!" The Pink Ranger looked to the volcano, and backed up a step.

"You may be right," she said, in a shrill voice. "Come on!" The two ran into the jungle, Wyatt still trying to shield the toddler. Her screaming, only interrupted by uncontrollable coughing, was starting to make his ears hurt. Even through his suit, the heat was intense, and the smoke blinding. The volcano boomed again, and the already hellish firelight reddened. It was erupting now.

Oh look, water. Wait—water! Wyatt broke into a run, stumbling down onto a sandy beach. The Pink Ranger yelled something, and Wyatt saw her heading for a jetty. Boats, great idea. He followed, as blue energy balls started falling out of the sky.

It only took a second for the Pink Ranger to grab a set of keys and find the motorboat that went with it. Scrambling inside, Wyatt almost tipped the boat over, but the Pink Ranger held it steady as he sat. Joining him, she started the motor with shaking hands, and began steering away from the island as fast as she could go.

The volcano exploded behind them with a deafening roar. Molten lava rained down on the burning jungle and in the water with hissing plops. The waves rocked the board, and the pair clung to it. They sped into ocean, away from the convulsing island.

"Power down," the Pink Ranger panted, and her suit vanished, leaving a scorched strawberry blonde in a grey-and-pink uniform. Her face was blotchy and pink, though whether from crying or burns, Wyatt couldn't tell.

"Yeah, power down," Wyatt repeated, and felt the adrenaline rush vanish. Swaying a little, he planted one hand on the side of the boat and stayed upright. The toddler's cries finally quieted into hiccups. Shakily, the Pink Ranger held out one sooty hand.

"Jess Walsh." She nodded to the toddler. "Malaya Kai."

"Wyatt O'Hare." They clasped hands, both too drained to say anything else. Turning, they watched Earthlight's final death throes. Lava blanketed the island as the last of the blue energy orbs flew into the night sky.

***Trivia***

Credit where credit is due: this concept came from two sources. One, discovering the fun of making alternate Ninja Academies while beta'ing StarWriter0303. Two, seeing JJB88 recruit OCs for several alternate Ninja Storm teams and wondering "if I were writing a team with Ninja Storm-based powers, but not canonical replacements, how would I go about it?" Thank you both!


	3. Chapter 3: Labyrinth of Stone

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, or the characters, who were submitted by storytyper2, WolfsbaneX, and StarWriter0303.

***The Himalayas, February 2nd, 2:08 am***

Easton ducked into a narrow tunnel, pebbles showering his back as the Snipers kept shooting. Swinging around, he gestured, both hands together, and hurled a ball of blinding golden energy at them. It hit one, and as the others recovered, Easton pulled aside a wall hanging and crawled into a narrow tunnel.

It was barely wide enough for the tall teen to crawl through. His breathing rasped in the passage, and slowly, his eyes adjusted to the darkness. His hands looked very white against the blue-black rock, ribbed with streaks of multicolored minerals. The sour tang of mildew hung in the damp, stale air.

Easton kept crawling until he reached a crossroads. Pausing, he listened. From the tunnel to the right, he could hear voices. Survivors or invaders, he couldn't tell. He took the right tunnel, struggling a little to turn the corner. His grey uniform, the collar, front and cuffs trimmed with gold, was splotched with slime.

As Easton crawled, the voices grew louder and more distinct. They weren't familiar; grimly, Easton realized that he'd found some of the attackers. The school was small and exclusive, and Easton had lived in it his entire life. He knew everything and everyone in it.

"Sensei Orual Ngapoi, I presume," a woman said. She sounded very smug. Easton crawled faster. Soon, he reached the end of the tunnel, and was met by what looked like the back of a computer. A little hot air blew in his face as the machine thrummed.

Cautiously, Easton pushed the computer aside, just enough to see. It was the computer room, in relatively good shape compared to most of the school. Two snipers kept their weapons trained on an old Asian woman, somewhere in her late fifties or even early sixties. Her steel grey hair was combed up in a high bun, somehow immaculate despite the scorch marks on her robes—and bleeding gash running down one side of her face. Easton's eyes narrowed, and he pushed the computer aside a bit further.

"Aren't you a little old for this?" The woman from before said again, stepping between Easton and the Sensei. She wore purple armor, and tossed baseball-sized orb of white stone in one hand. Even though he couldn't see it, Easton knew that the Ethereal sigil, a gold square with four lines extending along each of its sides, was on the other side. Ngapoi had actually used the morpher?

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Sensei Ngapoi asked. Her expression was stony.

"General Tauza. My commander is Lothor."

Sensei Ngapoi drew in a slow breath. Her dark eyes flicked towards the crack, but her expression didn't change. She looked from the morpher to the crack, and gave a very faint nod. Easton understood.

"I know of you."

"Good. Snipers, take her to the ship, put her in a stasis bubble like the others," General Tauza ordered. The pair of foot soldiers bowed, and vanished along with the Sensei.

Easton crouched, bracing himself against the tunnel walls. In the other room, Tauza was pacing. She'd stopped tossing the morpher, so he guessed she was just holding it. Breathing in, Easton focused his energy. Then he sprang.

The computer was blasted aside with a flash of energy, and Easton lunged into the room. Somersaulting, he came up directly behind Tauza. As she whirled, he plucked the morpher out of her hands, and roundhouse-kicked her into a computer. It sparked, and as she scrambled up, Easton ran.

The tunnel outside was empty, but Easton could hear running footsteps. Where was it, where was it—there! Jumping, he caught the sides of the hole in the roof and scrambled through it. The tunnel was a little wider than the other had been, and Easton started crawling. None of the Snipers thought to look up, and he wasn't chased. Soon, the only noises were Easton's breathing and a faint, distant dripping.

Easton headed down the slanting passage, still clutching the morpher in one hand. He could feel the center of the sigil; as he'd guessed, a goldfish was etched into it. As the adrenaline faded, the exhaustion began to creep up on the ninja. Generating energy blasts took a lot out of him. He pushed himself on regardless. Sure, he was safe in here, but what if there were other students on the run?

Reaching another junction in the tunnels, Easton caught the noises of Sniper rifles. He turned around in the passage, and slid down a slanting tunnel. Coming out feet-first, he landed on a foot soldier's shoulders, slamming it to the ground. He ducked just in time; lasers punctured one of the wall tubes, and luminescent blue fluid splattered all over him.

There were a few students lying on the floor, limp and unbreathing. With a sick jolt, Easton recognized a few faces; Jannie Walt, Kyoto Hoshi, Val Tyson, some of the best Sound Ninjas in the Academy. Surging to his feet, he wheeled on the Snipers. There were five of them. Without even thinking about it, he hurled five energy balls, vaporizing them instantly.

Shaking and drained, Easton stopped. Blue spots glowed on his uniform and skin where the mineral fluid had spilled and was still glowing; it was starting to burn. Easton ripped off what was left of his tunic and scrubbed the stuff off his skin. Throwing the garment aside, he shivered as goosebumps sprang up on his bare back and arms.

With a shudder, he turned back, and began checking the bodies one by one. All were warm but dead, until he moved to a slight girl lying beneath one of the corpses. As he brushed aside her black hair to check her pulse, she rolled over, catching his wrist. Her eyes were wide, but milky white cataracts covered them, leaving only narrow blue rings of her irises.

"Who's there?" She demanded, in a Welsh accent. She couldn't have been older than sixteen, and her dirty, torn uniform was covered in little silver bangles. They jingled as she moved.

"Easton Lewis, Energy Ninja. You're Kerri Long?" Easton asked. Catching her breath, Kerri nodded. "Are you hurt?"

"My leg," Kerri replied, and Easton went to check. A nasty burn scored the back of her right calf, and Kerri flinched as he touched it. Tearing off one of her sleeves, Easton tied up the burn, and helped Kerri to her feet. Only then did he notice the small white ball clutched in one of her hands. It was cracked.

"Where did you get that?"

"This? I tripped over it running down here. I-is it what I think it is?" She held it up. In the heart of its gold sigil was a bat carved out of diamond. It glinted eerily in the bluish light, now coming from puddles of fluid where the lighting tubes had spilled.

"If you think it's the Sound Morpher, then yes." Easton looked back at the dead bodies, and his throat closed up. "The others must have been trying to get it to safety."

"Getting things to safety sounds like a good idea," Kerri said. Easton handed her the Energy Morpher.

"Take these. You know the Cave of Bubbling Pools?"

"Yes." Kerri wrinkled up her nose, probably remembering the smell of the place. The hot springs reeked of sulfur.

"Wait there for me. I'll come back with anyone I can find. If I don't show up for twelve hours, assume I've been captured or killed, and get out."

"Are you sure?"

Easton hesitated. Distantly, he could hear noises, probably explosions. "Yes, I'm sure. Get going."

Nodding, Kerri turned and hobbled into the darkness. Easton headed back up the tunnel, to what he guessed was the fourth level of the school. Soon, Easton found himself in a hall honeycombed with rooms; student quarters. The blasts and explosions were louder here, though fewer and farther between than before. He guessed the students were being rounded up or killed off. Despite the cold, he started to sweat. There was a stitch in his side, feeling like a red-hot triangle stabbing with each breath.

Rounding a corner, Easton nearly ran into a cluster of Empathy students. Instantly, terror swept through his mind. He doubled over and screamed, trying to resist the alien emotions the ninjas were projecting into him. They shoved past him, slamming him into a wall, and large blue energy balls zoomed towards them.

Paralyzed with the other students' terror, Easton couldn't react as the blue balls started snatching them up, sweeping back up the tunnel with their quarry. Then a brunette seized a panicking boy, ripped something out of his hands, and shoved him aside, holding it up as the blue balls shot towards them. It blazed sky blue, and the ball swerved around her—snatching the boy she'd been trying to protect.

"No!" The girl screamed. Easton thought he knew her, but he was so scared he thought he might throw up. The Empathy ninja tried to ward off as many of the balls as she could, but more and more students were snatched. As they were, Easton's terror faded. Pulling himself together, he hurled a final burst of energy at the balls. It hit the roof, and stone showered into the tunnel. In seconds, it was blocked completely.

The dust settled. Easton tried to stand, even though his legs were jelly. There was only one other person left in their side of the tunnel—that girl—and she caught Easton by the arm. Her hair was falling out of its bun, rippling down to her shoulders in clumps.

"We need to go before they come back," she said. An American, of course. Easton nodded, and stood. The shorter, slim girl let go as soon as she saw he could walk. She didn't seem to want to touch him.

"Someone else—Kerri—Bubbling Pools," Easton managed. He caught his breath. "We'll need warmer clothes, we'll have to leave the caves eventually."

"Right." The girl ran ahead, vanishing into one of the student rooms. There was a clatter, and soon she emerged, arms full of fur and grey fabric. With a wry half-smile, she tossed a tunic at him. "Here, Captain Shirtless."

"Thanks." Easton fastened the tunic at the right shoulder and down that side. It was an Empathy tunic, and a little too big for him, but clothes was clothes. Then he snapped his fingers. "Callaghan! Susana Callaghan, one of the new students!"

"Yep. You just going to stand here for a while, or should we go meet this Kerri person?" Susana would have folded her arms, but they were full.

"Right. Follow me." Easton lurched down the tunnel, and Susana followed.

***The Cave of Bubbling Pools, the Himalayas, 2:49 am***

Kerri sat with her back to the wall, staring at the pool immediately in front of her. It glowed, probably from minerals, so she could see it as a vague greenish blur. The entire cavern was lit by pools like it, different colors from all the minerals boiling away there. A thick, sulfurous mist hung over the cave, making it feel like a sauna. Kerri's leg throbbed, and her hair already clung to her face and neck with sweat.

Pipes rose like black snakes out of the pools, still pumping the stuff up into the school for light and heat. It'd probably keep going until it ran out of energy. It had to someday, with all the Energy ninjas gone.

Then Kerri heard footsteps, and looked up. Out of a dark tunnel came two blurry people. She stood with a jingle, and focused on them. The cave's echo made them hard to pick out, but they sounded like normal-sized people.

"Kerri!" That was Easton's voice.

"Over here!" Kerri called, heading towards them, still limping. Her burnt leg protested, so she sat down with a thump and let them come to her. The newcomer was a girl, and a fairly pretty one at that.

"Susana, Kerri, Kerri, Susana," Easton said. He was tired and slurring a little. The lights made his fair hair look greenish. Fishing the two morpher balls out of her pocket, Kerri held them up, which drew a gasp from Susana and a grin from Easton. He took his. "Good. Those guys will come looking for these eventually, dunno when. We should hide and rest, then sneak out another way."

"Who put you in charge?" Susana snapped. Easton shrugged.

"Sorry. What do you think?"

Susana paused, and thought. "You two rest, I'll keep watch. Then you guide us out of here. Be ready to run if I yell." Kerri indicated her leg, and Susana sighed, sounding exasperated. "We'll help you. Get some rest." She handed each of them one of the bundles of cloth she was holding. Unfolding hers, Kerri found one of the thick, fur-lined overcoats they wore when they had to go out in the snow. Nodding, she scooted to a corner, snuggled up in it and went to sleep. The ceiling rumbled.

***Trivia***

Sensei Orual Ngapoi's last name is a Nepalese name, but her first name is that of the protagonist of C.S. Lewis's "Till We Have Faces."


	4. Chapter 4: Changing Seasons

Disclaimer: Power Rangers belongs to Saban, the submitted characters to kandyapple12, Aquilla the Eagle, WolfsbaneX and DeathDealer1997.

***Scrimshaw, New Zealand, February 2nd, 8:22 pm***

Sienna pedaled the bike as fast as she could, wishing she'd forgotten her uniform today. If she'd just gone with a T-shirt and pants like normal, she wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb. As it was, her best chance was to just get away from the Academy as fast as she could. She was very aware of the Summer Season Morpher, a metal-and-wood belt buckle with a sun inset in the center, belted at her waist.

It didn't look like she was being followed. Sienna cruised to a stop, ran a hand through her auburn hair, and let out a whooshing breath. She looked down at the belt buckle. It was pretty enough, gold on light brown wood, but didn't seem all that powerful. Not worth the big hullabaloo everyone was making. Some of the other students were fighting the bad guys with one-time-use decoys while the real four were snuck out. Sensei O'Hara had said something about Sienna being "unlikely," and she still wasn't sure if that was an insult or not.

Sienna, going much more slowly, rode the bike around a street corner and up a quiet hill. The sun was going down. Turning back, Sienna looked back over the rooftops of Scrimshaw, and saw, of all things, a bunch of blue bubbles flying into the sky. Were those people inside? Hard to see from here. Okay, that was kind of weird.

"Looks like we're stuck with each other for a while," she said to the bike. It was a streamlined bicycle, purple and shiny silver, a little girlier than Sienna liked but still fast. Whoever owned it was pretty careless, leaving it unchained and just leaning against a tree like that. Sienna tsked again, shaking her head. That was when she heard screaming, and looked around. People were running towards her, away from—

"Ohmigod_spiders_!" Two more of those giant silver spiders from before, shooting blue lasers at people. With a shriek, Sienna swung the bike around and zoomed down the hill, as fast as she could.

The lasers and metallic noises got louder. Bent low over the bike, Sienna's eyes widened as she saw the spider drones clatter into the road ahead of her. Okay, okay, think fast…she swerved as they started shooting. No side roads, no ramps.

Just as she reached them, Sienna swung the bike around on the front wheel with a yell. The back slammed into one of the spider robots, knocking it sideways into its fellow. As the two stumbled, Sienna pedaled backwards between them, zooming down the road. She managed a quick laugh.

Then a laser struck the front wheel of the bike, and it vanished. The front dropped abruptly, sparking as it scratched the road. Sienna turned the fall into a somersault, scraping her hands, and came up. Now she was in a road lined with shops, with a few little trees lining the sidewalks. Running to one, Sienna climbed up and kicked out as one of the spider things got closer. Her foot clanged off it, and she gaped silently in pain, clinging to the tree.

Just as the spider robots got her in their sights, there was a yell from behind them. Out of nowhere appeared a fair-haired boy, also in ninja uniform, who tackled the nearest one. Swinging around the tree, Sienna slammed her shins into another, sending it off balance. With a yell, Sienna let go and tackled it flat, twisting its guns aside. Blue lasers shot past her: she felt the bursts of heat. It's not a real spider, it's not a real spider, it's metal, it's not furry or shelly…

"Nice—but can you take a little heat?" She cried, raising her hands and gesturing towards the robot. White smoke began creeping out from under its armor, and it struggled. The air between Sienna's hands and the robot rippled with heat, and she grinned. The boy had grabbed what was left of Sienna's bike and was bashing the other robot with it.

Then Sienna's robo-spider exploded, sparks flying everywhere. Shielding her eyes, Sienna scrambled back. The boy gave the heap of metal that had been a robot one final smash, and then threw the twisted metal bike frame aside. His headband, and the swirly patterns on his vesty tunic and vambraces, were orange, meaning he was an Autumn ninja.

"Sorry about your bike."

"It wasn't mine," Sienna said, shrugging. She grinned at him. "That was awesome!"

"Oh. Thanks, I guess." The boy rubbed his hands, looking sheepish. He glanced up at her, and did a double take. For a second, he stared, and then he grinned and held out a hand. "Tyler Thorne."

"Sienna Lacy." Sienna shook it vigorously, ignoring the stinging from her raw palms. "You've got an accent—British?"

"Australian," Tyler replied. He looked around, but there weren't any more robots. His blond hair was falling out of its short ponytail, and absently, he fixed it.

"We should hide," Sienna said, giving the heap of junk metal a kick. "Before any more of those things show up."

"Okay…hey, you're a guardian?" Tyler pointed to the Season Morpher around Sienna's waist. Now she realized that he was wearing one too, with an orange leaf in the center.

"Yeah! You too? Cool—oh. Should we split up?" Sienna asked, face falling. "Sensei said it'd be safer that way."

"Well…going by just now, I think we're better off together." Tyler gave her a wry half-smile.

"Good point. We can go to my foster family's place and get out of these ninja suits; they're used to a crowd," Sienna said, and sized Tyler up. "I think some of Jude's clothes might just fit you."

"…Okay," Tyler said, with a shrug. "My uncle's expecting me at home by nine."

Sienna caught his arm. "We'd better hurry up, then!" She dragged him down the street and around an alley.

***Terra Ninja Academy, Appalachians, February 2****nd****, 2:30 pm***

Dean Rider sat in a corner of the training field, hugging his knees to his chest. The brown Haitian-born teen kept glancing around at the other students, a few feet away from him. Every few minutes, a few monsters would shove a few more people into the group, and they'd join their friends. A few mutinous mutters rippled through the group, but nobody went against Sensei Blackfeather's orders. Surrender. It rankled.

"Your Sensei is wise beyond his years," the invader, Korassil, called. He stood on a platform on one end of the field, Xumara on one side and Sensei Blackfeather on the other. The teacher didn't say anything or even look up. His face was carefully blank. "Fighting us would only have meant pain or death for you, and a minor loss to my troops. Because of this, I will make you an offer."

He held up a black lacquered box, lid open. Inside it sat two morphers, red and black, with two empty spaces for other morphers beside them. At the sight of them, everyone started whispering fiercely around Dean.

"One of your fellow students stole the Stone Morpher, and another foolishly tried to fight me with the Jewel one, destroying it when she was defeated. She has been punished." Dean's hands clenched into fists. One of the Jewel ninjas sprang to his feet, looking furious, but his friends dragged him back down before the monsters could react. "So I wouldn't recommend volunteering just to try and stab us in the back."

Now a Metal ninja stood up. He was olive-skinned, with dark hair and a disturbing smirk on his face. Nobody tried to stop him as he went forward, only slid out of his path. Sensei Blackfeather looked up slowly as he climbed onto the stage.

"Reggie Anvil. I'm ze best, and I vant to be on ze vinning team," he said, his German accent sharpening his words. Korassil gave Blackfeather a questioning look, and earned a small nod. Dean barely knew Reggie, but he was right: he was the best of the Metal ninjas, far and away. He received the morpher with a triumphant grin.

Silence fell as Korassil turned back to the crowd. Strapping the morpher on his wrist, Reggie stepped back behind the monster and clasped his hands behind his back. Everyone was looking at the Mineral Springs ninjas now, waiting for someone to stand. They were nervous, whispering, looking around, shuffling in place. Nobody wanted to join, and nobody wanted to fight back.

Then a few more ninjas from various disciplines came forward. Some avoided eye contact, some just looked straight ahead, and a few looked smug. They came up beside Reggie, and Korassil eyed them. Reggie himself moved away a little, giving the other Metal ninjas a warning look.

Dean clambered to his feet, feeling all eyes on him. They made way for him, and he heard them trying to remember his name. Of course. The monsters were taller up close, but Dean just shoved past them and ran up on stage.

"Dean," Sensei Blackfeather said, as he stopped in front of Korassil. Maybe he'd spoken to the others, too; his voice was barely above a whisper.

"This is the school's decision, I'll stand with it," Dean said, loudly enough so everyone could hear him. Korassil looked up and down the row of ninjas. Then he glanced at Sensei Blackfeather.

"Which is the best fighter?" He asked.

"...Dean Rider," the Sensei admitted, after a moment. Korassil handed him the Mineral Springs morpher, which Dean accepted with grim satisfaction. The monster's metallic gauntlet clinked a little with the movement. Standing beside Reggie, Dean strapped it on. The rest of the school stared at them like they'd done something wrong. Morons.

"Thank you. For your cooperation, you will all be allowed to remain here, as you were before," Korassil announced. Several humanoid creatures, white with red stitching dotting their bodies, black scorpions for faces, wandered into the crowd. They were carrying what looked like silver bracelets, which they began strapping to the ninjas' ankles. "However, I wouldn't go more than twenty miles away from the school if I were you. Those who have volunteered to join me will make sure you don't cause any trouble—and will look for the thief."

Turning, he faced the two newly-chosen Rangers, and then the Academy vanished. The three of them materialized in a dark room, ringed with silvery walls. Crossing to a computer panel near the doorway, Korassil typed in a few commands. All of the walls went blinding white, and Dean winced.

The nearest wall-screen changed, showing a woman in purple armor standing in a room like theirs, looking battered and stone-faced. Then another, showing an angry blue-haired woman and a smug bald Asian in fiery robes. Directly in front of the two teens materialized an image of a human-looking Caucasian man in a suit, leaning slightly on a cane. He looked like he was on his way to a business meeting, completely out of place next to the others.

"Well?" The final screen lit up, revealing what looked like a man in a black robe, covered with patterns and doodads, wearing a full face mask that exposed his nose, mouth and eyes. He folded his arms and looked around.

"I have the Ethereal Academy, but none of the morphers," the woman in purple said, bowing her head slightly.

"What do you mean, none of them? You had one already, what happened?"

"It was taken from me by a student. We are searching the caves for him."

"Great," the man muttered. He turned to the blue-haired woman. "Xumara, what's the matter? You look sour."

"This—" she gave the man with her an angry shake "—fool annihilated the Earthlight Academy!" He only chuckled. "Almost a third of the students and staff are either dead or unaccounted for, and the only morphers we were able to retrieve were ruined!" The masked man tsked disapprovingly, but the bald man didn't seem to care.

"The Season ninjas are in my custody, but all four Season Morphers are missing," business suit guy said, "But two students who I believe were acting as couriers for the morphers have escaped. Temporarily, of course."

"Who are these people, Korassil?" The masked man demanded, gesturing at Reggie and Dean. Korassil came forward.

"Lothor, these are two of the volunteers from the Terra Academy, which surrendered to us within the first half-hour. With your permission, I have put the school under house arrest. One student has escaped with the Stone Morpher."

"Volunteers?" Lothor scrutinized the pair, and grinned. "Smart boys." Reggie bristled a little, but didn't say anything. "Good job. Stay where you are, clean up those messes you've got left."

"Sir—" the woman in purple began, but Lothor cut her off.

"No, I've already taken care of the Wind Ninja Academy, I don't need any help! Besides, fat lot of good you'd do, you can't even handle one school each." Tauza nodded curtly. "Korassil, sort all this out. I've got a little personal business to attend to." With a dark chuckle, Lothor turned off his screen.

"I don't need help," Xumara said, still looking cranky. "I'll be sorting out if any of the students even escaped. My Kelzak Berserks can handle that on their own. You," she turned to the bald man, "Are confined to quarters." He sulked, starting to smoke a little, but Xumara reached for the headband around her forehead, and he stopped. Their screen went dark.

"Anvil, you'll go to Tauza and help her find the thief. Rider, you'll track down the Thinker's runaways," Korassil said. "I will find my missing Blue morpher."

"Gladly," Reggie said, smirking. Dean just nodded. He glanced towards the Thinker. The brown-haired man was eyeing him with a look of disdain, but shrugged.

"Fine," he said. "Send him directly to Scrimshaw, I'll find something useful for him to do." Both screens deactivated at once, leaving Korassil and the two teenagers alone in the room. It felt very dark after all that light.

"Come, we have no time to waste," Korassil said, turning and walking out the door. Reggie and Dean followed him.

***Trivia***

Reggie, Nico and Dean's Sentai counterparts were actually all sons of the Sensei, but Nico was the youngest and the Sensei's favorite, whom he helped to escape, and the older two joined the villains partly from rivalry, partly betrayal.


	5. Chapter 5: A Light on the Water

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or the submitted characters.

Author's Note: This is the last update before my NaNoWriMo hiatus; Lost Ninjas will return December 11th. I have a nagging feeling something's wrong with this chapter, but it's too close to me right now. If you have any guesses please speak up.

_Last time we saw the Earthlight Rangers: Zart interrupted the morpher presentation ceremony, and killed the would-be Lifelight Ranger when he protested. Another Lifelight student offered Zart the dead teen's morpher to try to make him leave, but Zart only launched his attack. In the chaos, one of the chosen Rangers, Jess, was able to morph. Wyatt, who'd been late to the ceremony, rescued the Sensei's young daughter and got the Crimson Morpher from Jess. The trio fled the island as it erupted, the rest of the school being captured by Xumara._

*******February 2****nd****, **The Caribbean, **1:19 pm***

Mason Green, known to most as "Rat," gave his outboard motor a smack. The machine chuttered a little, but did nothing else. With a groan, the fourteen-year-old flopped back in the boat, and looked around at the dark Caribbean. Too dark to tell if there were any cruise ships around, or islands.

Sighing, Rat shut his eyes and concentrated. His hands, resting loosely in his lap, began to glow green: he could see the light through his eyelids. The glow spread up his arms and all across his body. Hopefully someone would see the huge green light floating in the middle of the water. At least it kept him pretty warm.

Then he heard a shout. His eyes snapped open, and he stood up, swaying as the boat rocked. There was something off to his right, something large, black and glittering with lights. He cupped his hands over his mouth.

"Hello? Is someone there? I'm stuck!"

"We're sending out a boat—hang on!" The voice was too echoey for him to tell whether it was a man or a woman. Rat sat down quickly. He began to bring the light down gradually. If these were normal people, the whole bioluminescence thing would raise some awkward questions.

Soon, he saw a boat motoring toward his, a lantern glowing on the bow. Quickly, Rat grabbed a bundle of supplies out from under the stern—he'd been able to salvage some food before the island blew—and started paddling towards them. Soon, he reached the boat, and several uniformed men caught it. By the black and white and shiny buttons, they were stewards on a cruise ship.

"My motor died," Rat said, climbing into the boat with help. "I've been drifting for hours." Someone gave him a coat, and the men tied the two boats together. They turned and began back towards the cruise ship. It looked like a lit-up skyscraper in the ocean, making the waves flash. One of the men said something in Portuguese, drawing a few laughs from the others.

Finally, they reached the side of the cruise ship. Above them, the name Alejandro gleamed in black letters. In a few minutes, the boat was fastened to pulleys hanging over the side, and it began lifting out of the water.

It was windier up on deck, and Rat wrapped the coat tighter around himself. As the stewards put the boat away, they were greeted by what looked like an officer. He looked Rat up and down, and shook his head. The teen tried to look helpless and small.

"Another one?" The man shook his head. "Tonight's the night for castaways. Put him up with the others. We'll sort this out tomorrow." One of the men started walking, and Rat followed him quickly.

Music wafted through the wood-paneled corridors, along with a faint hum of voices. Rat kept close to the steward, who barely even looked back at him. Heading down a flight of red-carpeted stairs, the man turned into a corridor and stopped in front of a narrow passage, with doors on either side. He rapped on one, and after a moment, it opened. A fair-haired boy, older than Rat, popped his head out of the doorway.

"This is another castaway. The first mate said he should stay with you for the moment," the steward said.

"Sure," the stranger replied, and opened the door the rest of the way. Rat came inside, and found a young woman—Jess, from the Academy—sitting in a corner. She recognized him and sat up as the other boy closed the door.

"Rat!" She grinned. Relieved, Rat flopped down on one of the beds face-first and shut his eyes. "How did you escape?"

"Ran, got a boat and some supplies, but the engine died on me," Rat replied, his voice muffled by bedding. The bedspread was fluffy and cool, though the springs squeaked a little. "You?"

"Wyatt and Malaya and I just got a boat at the last second," Jess replied. Wyatt was blondie there, Malaya…? Rat cracked an eye open. Nobody else was in the room. "I found the sea lane and the rest is history."

"Now what?" Wyatt asked, coming over and sitting on the other bed. Rising, Jess began pacing. She was biting her pinkie nail.

"Sensei Kai—not Nardu, his father—always said he made sure there was a friend of the Academy working on the local ships. If there is one here, he—or she—will probably hear about us some time tonight. We should wait for them to make contact. They'll tell us where to go next."

"Home sounds like a good idea to me," Rat suggested.

"That'll take a few steps," Jess replied. "Anyhow, our next stop is Palencia; we won't get there for a few days. I think we should just try to relax until then. If anything comes up, I'll let you know."

"Yes ma'am," Rat replied.

Jess checked a clock on the wall. It was one of those numberless things, but even at a glance, midnight had passed. She brushed her hair out of her face. "Okay. See you guys tomorrow. I'm with Malaya in the other room if anything comes up."

Quietly, she slipped out, closing the door behind herself with a click. Rat began pulling off his sneakers and socks with his toes. Scratching his head, Wyatt came over and sat on the other bed, taking off his own shoes.

"Is your name really Rat?" He asked, balling his socks up and sticking them in the toes of his shoes.

"No, but I don't like Mason," Rat replied, sitting up so he could get under the covers. This was ten times better than those stupid hammocks at the Academy: half of the time he couldn't even get into the thing properly. "Can you get the light?"

"Sure." Wyatt got up and switched off the light. As Rat lay down, he heard Wyatt bump into something, then climb into the other bed. "We don't have pajamas."

"I know. Go to sleep."

"Where are you from? You have an accent," Wyatt said.

"I'm Cajun and tired. Good night."

"Okay, I was just curious. Good night." Rolling over on his side so he faced the wall, Rat shut his eyes. Faintly, he could hear the engines thrumming somewhere beneath him.

***Xumara's Ship, Airspace above the Caribbean, 7:45 am***

Xumara, reclining on her throne (well, technically a captain's chair, but she preferred throne), eyed the monster before her. It was essentially a collection of grey-green radar machines with red screens slapped together and granted life.

"ScanJammer, according to our databases you have the best scanning technology in the fleet."

ScanJammer raised its head. "I _am_ the best scanning technology in the fleet." Its voice was robotic, and the line running across its screen-face jumped with the words.

Xumara cracked a smile. "Good. I want you to go to Earthlight Island and search it for any traces of the missing morphers. If you don't find anything, head for the mainland; the school had to have liaisons, they may know something."

ScanJammer gave a quick bow, rose and headed for an ejection pod.

*******February 3****rd****, **Cabin, the **_Alejandro_****, ****11:14 am***

Jess was woken by Malaya yelling her name. She snapped awake with a snort, and looked around. For a minute, she was disoriented, staring at the sun-drenched cabin in bewilderment. Then she remembered everything that had happened, and sat up slowly.

"Jess? Jess! Oh, ooh, Jess!" Malaya exclaimed, grinning hugely as the older girl looked at her and holding out her chubby arms. "Up?"

"Okay, up," Jess said, pushing the covers aside and gathering the toddler. Her stomach growled, and she checked the time. Wow, almost time for lunch. Malaya smelled like soot and sweat, and wincing, Jess knew she was just as bad. Were the guys up yet?

Jess went to the door, but as she opened it, the door bumped a small suitcase in the hall. There was another in front of the boys' room, identical to it. Intrigued, Jess set Malaya in a chair, and pulled the suitcase into the room. There was a note resting on top of it, addressed to her. She unfolded it.

Ms. Walsh—

Here are a few things you'll need until we arrive in Palencia. We received word of what happened on Earthlight. It is not safe to discuss yet. Please do not try to find me or do anything that might attract undue attention.

A friend

Jess nodded and tore up the note, tossing the bits of paper in the trash. She'd tell the boys later. For now, she and Malaya were both in dire need of a bath. She started snapping the suitcase clips open.

***Leto Deck, the ****_Alejandro_****, 11:55 am***

With a flash, ScanJammer materialized in the narrow hall. It looked around, but didn't see anyone. It scratched its head, metallic gauntlet clinking against the square computer.

"Funny. I was certain I picked up Earthlight energy from here," it said. "Scanning…" All of its screens lit up, radar lines wiping in circles. Then they picked up a cluster of blips, and ScanJammer turned. "Earthlight energy detected."

It started walking, barely making a sound on the carpeted floor. Voices rang out somewhere up the hall, and ScanJammer sped up. The blips were growing, separating into three different signatures.

Two teenage boys stepped into the hall, and ScanJammer halted. The younger, bearded boy spotted him first, yelped and ducked behind the other, who dropped into a fighting stance. He looked bewildered, even amused, by the sight of the bizarre monster.

"Earthlight energy detected. Identification process underway," ScanJammer said, and a red laser flashed from the projector atop his head-screen. The two froze, unable to move while they were being scanned. To the monster's radar vision, the morphers tucked into their pockets glowed red. "Identified: O'Hare, Wyatt, Green, Mason. Earthlight morphers detected."

Then someone else stepped into the hall behind the pair, and a gout of fire shot over their heads. It hit ScanJammer squarely in the projector, cutting off the scan beam, and the two boys leaped aside. The younger one was halfway down the hall before ScanJammer could even recover.

"Rat?" Wyatt asked, confused.

"Never mind him—we've got to take care of this guy," the girl said. She sucked in a deep breath and breathed a huge gust of flame at the monster. It ducked, only to feel her foot slam into its head with a clang.

"Can you move, Jess?" Wyatt called, and Jess somersaulted over ScanJammer's head. The monster looked up in time to see a blob of magma growing in Wyatt's hands. Alarmed, ScanJammer turned and tried to grab Jess, only to get its hands enveloped in flame. ScanJammer yelped in pain, recoiling and looking at its glowing orange gauntlets.

It remembered the magma at just the last second, and threw itself flat. The liquid fire shot over his head, abruptly hardening into a jagged blade of obsidian, swinging around and coming back at him. It missed again, almost stabbing Wyatt on its way back.

"I'm getting really sick of this," Jess snapped, and sprang onto ScanJammer's back. It tried to flip over and knock her off, but Jess sprang up into a full split, catching herself on the walls of the narrow corridor. She pursed her lips and sent a stream of white-hot flame down into ScanJammer's shoulder as it tried to turn over. It started burning through its armor.

"Here we go again," Wyatt said, telekinetically picking up the obsidian lump. At a gesture, it shattered into dozens of blades, and they all flew at ScanJammer. The monster tried to wriggle away, but only managed to scratch the wood paneling. The little black blades stabbed into ScanJammer's screens, cracking them with pops and pings.

Blinded, ScanJammer roared, flailing madly at the two ninjas. It felt the volcanic glass melt again and begin tunneling into its body along with the fire. Yelling in deafening white noise, the monster swung up and slammed bodily into Jess, throwing her flat. It was too late anyway: with a few convulsive bursts of sparks, ScanJammer collapsed.

***Xumara's Ship, Airspace above the Caribbean, 12:20 noon***

Xumara crossed the room, and looked down at the wrecked ScanJammer. A few sparks still fizzled from its shattered screens and exposed wires. Straightening, Xumara let out a little laugh, and kicked the monster.

"So, a few escaped. Lovely. Korassil will be pleased." She wrinkled her nose at the acrid smell rising from the wrecked robot. "Someone get rid of this piece of junk—no, wait." The Kelzak Berserks who'd come out paused. Xumara grinned. "See if you can get it repaired. Also add a few actual weapons."

Obediently, the Kelzak Berserks dragged the ruined robot away. Humming to herself, Xumara returned to her throne.

***Trivia***

The Alejandro's based mostly on my memories of a cruise ship I got to stay on a few years ago, albeit in the Mediterranean instead of the Caribbean.


	6. Chapter 6: A Journey in the Dark

Disclaimer: the OCs here belong to StarWriter0303, storytyper2, and WolfsbaneX; the show belongs to Saban, and I own whatever's left.

_Last time we saw the Ethereal Rangers: Easton stole the Energy Morpher right out of Tauza's hands and fled, finding the injured Kerri with the broken Sound Morpher. Taking her to safety, he returned for any other ninjas he could save, encountering Susana as she took her morpher from another student to fight. All three fled to the Cave of Bubbling Pools as Tauza's forces captured the rest of the school.  
_

***Ethereal Ninja Academy, February 2nd, 7:44 a.m.***

"…And he was never seen again, right?" Susana asked. Why did all of these ghost stories end exactly the same way?

"Pretty much," Kerri replied. She walked ahead of the others down the tunnel. Her limp was still distinct, but thanks to an energy boost from Easton (and maybe a slight attitude adjustment from Susana), she'd said it was "okay." Her voice echoed, and more faintly, the silver bangles on her uniform jingled. "Oh yeah, except for the moaning noises you hear if you go too far down. I think he turns up on his birthday, too—doesn't he, Easton?"

"Huh?" Easton had been keeping up the rear, alert for any trouble. He hadn't made a light for risk of them being seen, so Kerri was leading the way, echolocating as she went. Hence the talking.

"The lost student, does he turn up on his birthday?"

"Which lost student?"

"Duck, stalactite," Kerri said. Susana obeyed, hearing Easton follow suit behind her. The stalactite was wet with cold slime and sharp at the tip. "Willis, I think he was British or something."

"No, Willis appears when someone's about to die. Alana appears on her birthday."

"I forgot about Alana."

"Okay, seriously, were any of these people real?" Susana asked. The walls were getting closer, but the air smelled slightly less stale. They were getting higher at last.

"They were—some of them even got lost," Easton said. He stumbled a little on some loose rocks. "But we usually found them."

"Usually?"

Easton let that question stand. They walked on in an awkward near-silence, footsteps crunching grit. Something rumbled far behind them. All three teenagers pretended they hadn't heard it.

"Is that a light?" Susana asked. Further up the tunnel, there was a pinkish sort of glow.

"Yeah," Easton said. "I know where we are."

"Great! Where?" Kerri asked.

"The crypt."

"…Oh. We have a crypt? As in, with dead people in it?"

"How many other kinds of crypts are there? It's mostly for old teachers, or students without relatives to send them back to. Keep going, there's a graveyard right outside," Easton said. They did, and soon came around a corner to see a stone door carved with strange letters. Around its edge grew a weird, glowing pink fungus. Slipping past the two girls, Easton pulled the door open. It slid with a grating sound, revealing a wide, pink-lit room.

Inside, Easton pulled the door shut behind them with a boom. The walls were lined with shelves, all covered with dusty urns. In the middle of the room stood a wide stone table, and all three instinctively avoided it, going straight for the outside door. As they pulled it open, they were greeted by a gust of snow-laden air.

With effort, they got the door open all the way, and stepped outside. Easton pulled the door shut again with a boom, and Susana quickly pulled up her hood, Kerri imitating her. A storm brewed overhead, but the valley they stood in protected them from the worst of the wind. Snow had already blanketed the hills, and piled on one side of the gravestones dotting the field. Another table stood here, ringed by torches on posts. Some of them had been knocked over by the wind.

"Where to next?" Kerri yelled, turning towards the others. Susana shrugged and looked to Easton. "I can't hear or see a thing in this!"

"Keep ahold of me," Easton said, putting her hand on his elbow. "There's a village about ten miles down—we should be able to take shelter there!" One-handed, Easton pulled up the lower half of his face mask.

"Assuming Tauza and her goons haven't gotten there ahead of us," Susana added.

"Assuming that, yes. At the worst we might be able to salvage from them and move on." Easton started forward, through the valley. Kerri followed along, as did Susana. Overhead, there was a crack of lightning that silhouetted the falling snowflakes like black dust. As they reached the end of the valley, Easton slowed to a stop and looked back towards the gravestones.

"Easton?" Kerri tugged at his arm. With a shake of his head, he went on, right to the mouth of the valley and onto the mountain. Susana joined them, keeping close. Now the wind hit them with full force, almost enough to knock them over. Snow pelted them like needles, stabbing at their exposed eyes. Another flash of lightning lit up the snow a blinding white, and thunder cracked and roared above them.

Catching ahold of both girls, Easton ninja-streaked towards a rock. The wind nearly blasted them clean off the mountainside, but they landed halfway there. Susana braced herself, and they leaped again, zipping down the slope. It was still slow going: ten miles might as well have been a hundred in this weather, and none of them were very good at this.

"Maybe we should wait it out!" Susana shouted. But as Easton started to reply, something rumbled behind them, and it wasn't thunder. As they looked back and up, they glimpsed a hole appear in the clouds. Through it appeared an enormous, beetle-like shape, hovering above the mountain. A blue energy bolt flashed, and there was a dull boom. The mountaintop quivered.

"Too late—run!" Easton yelled, catching the girls' wrists and ninja-streaking again. Behind them came more dull booms, accompanied by distant crackling. Then came a new sound, barely audible, but bringing a rush all three could feel.

"Avalanche?" Kerri's voice was shrill and squeaky. Easton didn't say anything, just swerved towards a huge, brown outcropping to their left.

"Could we use our Zords?" Susana yelled. He didn't notice: he couldn't hear it over the noise of the school being destroyed. She kept shouting, then finally grabbed him by the shoulders and swung him around.

"DO WE HAVE ZORDS OR NOT?" She screamed in his face, shaking him with each word.

He blinked. Easton pulled his morpher out of an inner pocket and held it up. The wind snatched his voice away as he yelled, but it still blazed gold as he morphed. Susana and Kerri followed suit behind him. Why did the first access code have to be so long?

"Gold Ethereal Ranger!"

"Sapphire Ethereal Ranger!"

"Diamond Ethereal Ranger!"

"Force immaterial, powers ethereal! Golden Goldfishzord!"

"Sapphire Pandazord!"

"Diamond Batzord!" For a second, nothing happened. The noise of the avalanche grew louder as it neared. As Susana was starting to wonder if the attackers had found the Zords, around the side of the mountain zoomed three giant robots: a panda, a goldfish, and a bat. The three leaped into the Zord cockpits, and were immediately greeted by a blast of warm air.

"You guys up to fighting?" Easton asked, as the Goldfishzord swam through the snow. The mountaintop dimpled and collapsed as the school fell in on itself, forming a massive crater.

"Fighting?" Kerri protested. Through the howling wind rose an ear-piercing shriek. Something huge and black rocketed towards the Batzord, slamming into it claws-first. They hit the mountain with a cloud of snow and rolled.

"Kerri!" Susana charged after them just as they rolled into the path of the avalanche. They were both swept away in a rush of snow and rock. The Goldfishzord leaped into the flood and shot after them.

"Try to stop that spaceship!" Easton yelled at Susana. The Pandazord turned and bounded up the mountainside. A bolt of lightning struck it, and it faltered, but soon rushed on. As it came, the spaceship turned its guns on the Zord, which rolled and ducked the blasts with agility no real panda ever had. It still took a few hits, one of which knocked it flat on its stomach.

"Get—off!" Kerri yelled. The Batzord pushed up through the snow, forcing its attacker off. It was a massive Screech Owlzord, black and silver. It flapped and dove again, only for the Goldfishzord to slam into its side and knock it away. Skittering through the air, the Batzord came around at its attacker's back, digging its own claws in. With another bloodcurdling shriek, the Screech Owlzord tucked in its wings and dropped like a missile towards the mountain. At the very last second, it snapped its wings out and swerved. The Batzord was yanked off its back by pure momentum and faceplanted in the snow.

"I'm done," Kerri groaned.

At the mountaintop, the Pandazord leaped into the air and swung wildly at the spaceship. It easily moved aside, and the Pandazord landed on the other side of the collapsing school. A laser hit it in the back of the neck, pitching it forward and down the slope. The spaceship followed, pelting the ground around it with lasers. A few hits drew showers of sparks, and the Pandazord slammed into a rocky outcropping, hard. It rolled over and struggled back to its feet as the spaceship loomed over it.

"Come on, I barely felt that!" Susana yelled up at the ship. She felt a flush of angry satisfaction: time for these bad guys to pay. The Zord leaped again, and this time managed to catch one of the ship's leglike protrusions. It stretched and tore as the Pandazord came down, metal and yellow fluid spraying across the mountainside. The ship rocked and took off, disappearing into the clouds. As the Pandazord hesitated, more laser bolts tore through the clouds and knocked it off-balance. It started to roll down the mountain.

"Guys, I don't think we can win this!" Kerri shouted, as the Screech Owlzord caught the Goldfishzord in its talons. The fish writhed, its bladed fins slashing at its captor but not loosening its trip.

"We can if you help!" Susana retorted, as the Pandazord stopped itself with outstretched paws. The spaceship came down after it, guns blazing. The lasers tore into the Zord's metal hull, melting wires and drawing sparks.

"She's got a point—we're outmatched," Easton said, as the Screech Owlzord swooped up towards the storm. Lightning struck it, and it shuddered, its grip loosening enough for the Goldfishzord to slip free. It disappeared into the avalanche. "We'll have to retreat."

"Oh no, these guys have gone waaay too far for that," Susana snapped. Her Zord snarled and swung at the ship, but it remained safely out of reach. Another laser took it between the eyes, and it fell back with a boom.

The Goldfishzord's fins cut through the snow like a shark in the water as it came up beside the Batzord. It lay there for a minute, unmoving, before the Screech Owlzord scooped up the Batzord and tossed it away, towards the ship. The Goldfishzord followed.

Susana struggled to right her Pandazord, but it fell sideways again, and she banged her head on the wall. Panting and sore, she struggled back up. The right hind leg wasn't cooperating. The huge shadow of the Screech Owlzord was silhouetted over her by a crack of lightning. As Susana struggled, the hatch door slammed open, revealing a snow-blown Easton. Susana jumped, and he yanked her out of the cockpit before she could say anything.

"What are you—?"

"Come on!" She tried to go back, but he seized her in a full nelson and dragged her away, just in time. The Screech Owlzord latched onto the Panda's leg and dragged it up to the crater, tossing it after the others. Susana stopped fighting, and Easton let go. They reached a massive boulder, where a shaken Kerri also waited. The Screech Owlzord, apparently assuming the Rangers were still inside their Zords, dropped into the crater.

"Now what?" Kerri asked. Her voice seemed very small.

Easton's shoulders slumped. "Ninja streak?"

So they did, zipping back and forth down the mountainside in black blurs. The storm's fury had passed, and now the snow fell in darkness. Deep within the mountain, they could still feel layer upon layer of the school collapsing in on itself. Susana swore to make those creeps pay for every flattened room.

Finally, Easton let out a shout, and pointed to faint lights twinkling in the distance. Finding her second wind, Susana zipped past the other two towards them. In a few minutes, they'd arrived in a little village, somewhere between the Middle Ages and the 1960's by the houses. As the three demorphed, standing in the middle of the town, doors and windows started opening. Kerri swayed, and Susana put an arm around her shoulders. She had a pounding headache and what would probably be a colorful collection of bruises later.

A tall older man came up to them, and Easton addressed him in another language. The two spoke for several minutes, as various dark people slipped out of their homes and eyed the strangers. Feeling self-conscious, Susana brushed snow off her uniform and drew herself up. More was melting in her boots, but she couldn't do anything about that for the moment.

Finally, Easton finished the conversation, and turned to the girls. "They've got somewhere for us to stay." Susana didn't let herself show her relief, just followed some woman into her house with Kerri. A couple of inquisitive children in pajamas ran around, fetching things as the woman ordered them to, prattling the entire time.

The woman spoke a little English, enough to figure out what was wrong with both girls. Quickly anointing and bandaging Kerri's burnt leg, she got them dry clothes and showed them to a closet of a bathroom to change. Gesturing towards the couch, she took their damp uniforms away. The kids stared at them, but eventually got bored and ran off. Their voices carried as they played.

Kerri hugged her knees to her chest, resting her chin on them. Her damp hair straggled across her shoulders.

"What do we do now? Whoever those people are, they've got our Zords."

Susana shrugged. "Then we get them back. We could have beaten them if we'd had a strategy. We can let them make the repairs, then steal them back. Who knows, maybe they'll make a three-Zord Megazord formation for us."

"I hadn't thought of that." Kerri sounded relieved. She flopped back on the couch with a groan, then stretched her legs, wincing at the sore muscles. "How long do you think that'll take?"

"Long enough that we'll have to leave here. If those guys were ready to blow up the school to go after us, they won't let a village stand in their way," Susana said. She leaned back against the couch. It squeaked a little. "We should rest while we can."

Kerri gave her an incredulous look. "You expect me to rest after what you just said?"

"Yeah." Susana shut her eyes and tried to block out the kids playing in the other room. After a moment, she heard Kerri mutter and shift around, making herself comfortable. Susana's stomach growled, and she made a note to ask that woman about food when she came back.

***Trivia***

The chapter title is a reference to the Lord of the Rings.


	7. Chapter 7: Rangers 1, Megazord 0

Disclaimer: The OCs belong to Aquilla the Eagle, kandyapple12, and InsertDecentNameHere.

_Last time we saw the Season Rangers: Sienna and Tyler fled the Academy with the morphers they'd been entrusted with, fighting off the Spider Drones the Thinker sent after them.  
_

***Persephone Café, Scrimshaw, 9:20 pm***

"Alice? Does it really take that long to get rid of the trash?" Monty asked, as his niece came in the side door. Alice brushed her hair back over her ears, then did it again, like she always did when she was distracted.

"Did you see the smoke?" She asked, coming back to the counter. "I heard someone mention a gym fire downtown, but it looks like it's still going."

"Clear table fourteen," Monty replied, as Alice washed her hands. The older man didn't seem particularly concerned. "Don't worry about it, the fire department will take care of it." Alice shrugged, drying her hands with a paper towel, and headed off to bus the table. She hoped nobody had gotten hurt in the fire.

As she cleared crumpled napkins and dirty dishes, Alice saw a police car go whizzing by, sirens wailing and lights flashing. Then another, and three more in a cluster. Now that she was paying attention, Alice could hear more sirens in the distance, getting louder. Glancing down, she happened to see a half-full glass of water ripple. She dismissed it as a wobbly table, and gave it a final wipedown.

Alice was just dumping the dishes in the sink when she noticed the booming noises. They started out faint, more felt than heard. A few more police cars and fire engines went by—going the other way. Seeing them, the customers began to murmur among themselves, and filtered out in ones and twos.

As Alice was taking one couple's order, a police car pulled up right in front of the Café. A tall policeman walked inside, a grim look on his face, and everyone quickly turned to him. He crossed the room and spoke in a low voice to Monty. Alice came closer, and caught the words "shelter" and "civilians." The booming noises were getting louder.

"I-I don't think I understand," Monty stammered. "Shouldn't we evacuate?" His voice was loud enough for a few nearer people to hear, and begin murmuring.

"There's the stockroom—it's in the basement," Alice interrupted. "It's big enough for everyone in here with room to spare."

"Right," Monty said, after a moment. The policeman nodded, and turned towards the patrons.

"Will everyone please gather their things and follow me downstairs, please?" He called. "I'll explain the situation there." With a flurry of activity and chatter, everyone collected their purses and bags and wallets. Now the wobbly chairs and tables were trembling with each boom. Monty got the door to the stairs, and the policeman ushered everyone down. Alice noticed an elderly man struggling with his cane and wallet. A younger woman with him, probably his daughter, tried to get him to come, but he snapped at her about money or something. Rolling her eyes, Alice went to help him.

***The Thinker's Ship, New Zealand Airspace, 9:30 pm***

The Thinker stood at the console, cane resting against it, watching three screens at once. One showed a satellite view of Scrimshaw; the Season Megazord's destruction looked like a cloud of black smoke. Another let him see through his monster's eyes, out the cockpit of the Megazord itself, and the last showed the news reports of the battle. The Thinker rolled his eyes.

"Humans," he said to the last screen, and the panicking text scrolling across it. "So easy to scare. Doesn't matter if it's a giant robot or one man with a gun." The Megazord hesitated. The Thinker spoke up. "Pilot, continue dismantling buildings until the Rangers arrive. Ignore the civilians unless they get in your way." They were too small for a Megazord to deal with effectively. A few idiots could live another day, assuming they could scrape together the brain cells to run away.

Pilot sent surges of energy through a few of the metallic tendrils linking it to the Megazord controls. The entire thing looked like a cross between a spiderweb and an octopus, with the robotic Pilot at the center. The robot had a blobby, shapeless body and a head like a manta ray, with two blue sensors for eyes. The Thinker hadn't bothered to equip it with intelligence: it didn't need more than orders. Maybe, he mused, if it defeated all of the Rangers, he'd upgrade it.

***115 Mistview Drive, Scrimshaw, 9:40 pm***

Sienna hopped into the living room, tying her shoe as she went. Sitting on the couch, Tyler hung up the phone. A couple of younger boys ran through the house, carrying toy blasters. Tyler didn't get more than a glimpse, but he thought they looked like something earlier Rangers had used—Lightspeed, maybe?

"How's the uncle?" Sienna asked, dropping onto an ottoman with a thump.

"Calmed down. He heard about the gym burning down on the news and got kinda freaked out," Tyler replied.

"Is that all they're saying?" One of the two boys ran back in again, skidding to a halt and ducking behind a sofa.

"He didn't say, but it makes sense. Even if they spotted any of the monsters, they wouldn't want to make a fuss about it and scare people," Tyler said. Jude's clothes were a little too big for him, and he had to roll up the hems of the pants.

"What about evacuating?"

"What are you guys talking about?" The boy asked, popping up from behind the sofa.

"Nothing," Sienna said, not even looking. "None of your business anyway, Nate." Before the kid could ask anything else, the other burst in, guns blazing, and they got back to their battle.

"They might be, I dunno." Tyler shrugged.

"Let's check." Springing to her feet, Sienna ran to the TV, and started digging through the books and toys piled on it. With an "aha!" she pulled out the remote, turned the TV on, and began flipping channels as she backed her way towards her seat. Soon she found the news, just as she dropped back onto the ottoman.

The two were immediately greeted by the sight of a Megazord smashing through the downtown area. They didn't get a good look, since the cameraman was running for his life, but they saw enough. Screams and sirens wailed from the TV.

"Hey, those are our Zords!" Sienna protested. Tyler was already out of his chair and heading for the door. Turning off the TV, Sienna bolted after him. "Wait for me!"

The two Rangers ran down the alley, skidding to a halt. The Megazord rampaged on past them, smashing buildings as it went.

"What do we do?" Sienna asked, looking to Tyler.

"Morph," he said without delay. Grinning, Sienna grasped her Season Morpher.

"Autumn Storm, Ranger Form!"

_Tyler stands in a wide field covered in yellowing grass, in ninja uniform. A storm rages above him. His uniform transforms into leaves, swirling around him as his Ranger suit is revealed. His helmet forms and snaps shut around his head, and he strikes a pose._

"Summer Storm, Ranger Form!"

_Sienna stands in a grassy, green meadow, a storm raging above her head. Rain pelts her, melting her ninja uniform away to reveal her Yellow Ranger garb. Her helmet materializes as her long hair shortens to fit inside it, and the visor snaps shut._

Sienna turned expectantly to Tyler. "Okay, _now_ what do we do?"

"Um..." the Megazord took out a building. Sienna hopped from one foot to the other impatiently, waiting for a response. Tyler heard a shriek, and dove forward. Grabbing a woman, he somersaulted out of the way, as the Megazord's foot came down where she'd been standing.

"Okay," Sienna said, shrugging. She charged as well, and shoved a running policeman out of the way of falling concrete. The man was already up and running before Sienna could even recover.

"Hey, Tyler!" She yelled. "I got an idea!"

"Great—what?" Tyler swerved to avoid more debris.

"Come here—I don't want to yell it at you, someone might hear."

Tyler ran over. "Climb up, camouflage yourself, take out the pilot."

"Okay."

"Can you camouflage me too?"

"I'm not that good yet," Tyler admitted. They jumped apart as a huge chunk of stone hit the ground, cracking the pavement.

"Okay, I'll just keep helping people down here." Sienna ran off to help extricate a few panicking civilians from a half-buried car. Tyler took a deep breath, turned, and raised his hands. He rippled, and after a few seconds, vanished. A distortion ran towards the Megazord, caught its leg, and began climbing up.

The Megazord moved smoothly and steadily. Tyler didn't have trouble clinging to it: the Zords were covered in lumps and protrusions. However, as he reached the waist, it stopped. The head cranked down, its massive, glowing eyes looking right at him. Tyler froze.

One huge hand swung around and swatted at him. Tyler jumped sideways, only just catching a chunk of metal at the last second. He knew his shield wouldn't hold up moving that fast, but he had bigger problems. The Megazord started slapping and swatting at him, each blow bringing a metallic clang. Once he missed and dropped several meters, only just hooking a leg around a protruding metal bar.

Dangling upside-down, Tyler saw a hatch, and quickly scrambled over. It opened, and he squeezed inside, pulling the door shut just as the hand came down. It boomed against the door. Its thick fingers couldn't manage the little hatch. Crushed against spare cords and machinery, Tyler waited, panting. The Megazord kept smacking and clawing at the door. It almost hooked it open with a finger, but Tyler quickly grabbed it and held it back. The thing was stronger, but it didn't have as good a grip. Still it felt like Tyler's arms were being dragged out of their sockets. He planed both feet on either side of the door and pulled as hard as he could. Finally, the Megazord left him alone. He started to open the door, only to glimpse black shooting towards him. Quickly, Tyler slammed the door, just for the fingers to scrape off it. Great, it was waiting for him.

"Sienna?"

"Yeah?" Her voice echoed in his helmet.

"I'm kind of stuck, can you make this thing stop pestering me so I can get higher up?" He asked.

"Stuck how?"

"I'm in a safety panel or something." The thick cables dug into his back, and he squirmed, trying to get more comfortable. "The Megazord won't let me out without trying to grab me and probably squash me."

"Okay, hang on." Was it getting more cramped in here? It felt like something was moving. Then Tyler felt a cord snake around his chest, and looked down. The wires were moving. As he started to pull away, they snapped tight around his chest, and hurled him against the door. It opened and he shot out, right into the Megazord's waiting hand. It clenched, ready to crush him.

"Autumn Blasters!" Tyler yelled, and two orange guns materialized in his hands. He fired, orange lasers burning through the synthetic black hands. The smell of burning rubber filled the air, filtering through his helmet, but the hand stopped. Shoving one gun into his belt, Tyler clambered up out of the glove and onto the Zord's arm. It was green and lizardy. He clung there as the Megazord took another swing at him.

A yell rang out, and Tyler looked down to see Sienna bashing at the Megazord's leg with a tewhatewha—although instead of being essentially a long-handled wooden axe, it was made of metal. It drew sparks with each blow, and Sienna danced around the Megazord as it tried to stomp on her.

"Hah! Missed me again, slowpoke!" She yelled, twirling it over her head like a baton. "What's the matter, afraid to hit a girl?"

Tyler started climbing again, as fast as he could. His hands were slick with sweat under his gloves, and his hair already clung to his forehead. He reached the elbow, then the shoulder. The Megazord spun in a full circle, almost throwing him off, but he clung to it. Halfway up the arm...shoulder...there was the head, and a hatch to get inside to the cockpit. Tyler paused, catching his breath.

"What are you, a snail? Come on, you're not even trying!" Sienna yelled, smashing at the Megazord's other leg for a change. It tried to stomp on her, but she backflipped away. As the Megazord ducked to grab at her, she stabbed it in the hand, the tewhatewha going right through it with a burst of sparks. She held on as it stood up, whooping as she was swung into the air. Tyler shook his head, torn between disbelief and weird admiration: she was nuts.

Then he caught the hatch door, swung it open, and flipped inside. He hit a web of thick cables, which immediately turned and began trying to snare him. Drawing his Autumn Blasters again, Tyler opened fire, shooting every which way. Maybe he'd have to repair the cockpit later, but right now he needed to get rid of the monster. Through the storm of wires and cubes and lasers, he glimpsed a lumpy robot body in the main cockpit, and began forcing his way towards it.

The tubes circled his neck and limbs, twisting him back and dragging him away. He fought, but then he lost his grip on one gun. It clattered to the floor, where it was picked up by a tentacle and turned on him. Tyler tried to twist away from the shots, but he still took a few blasts to the side and the thigh. It didn't burn through his suit, but it drew sparks and felt like being punched with an iron boxing glove.

As the thing managed to force his other Autumn Blaster out of his grip, he heard a shout.

"Hang in there, Ty, I'm coming!" With a yell, the Yellow Ranger lunged into the mess, hacking at the tubes with a pair of yellow-and-silver daggers. The tubes separated with blue sparks, and the robot let out a whistling shriek. They loosened their grip, and Tyler managed to twist an arm free.

"Season Tewhatwehwa!" He yelled, and the weapon appeared in his hand. With one swing, he sliced through all of the tubes holding one leg, and then the other. Dropping to the floor, he looked to Sienna. She let out an evil, breathless laugh. They both charged the robot in the middle. Their weapons slammed into it from both sides, crushing its hull inward with pops and fizzles. It exploded, sending them staggering back. The Megazord halted where it stood, and all of the tubes went limp. The lights went out as the Megazord's power faded with a whine.

Tyler panted, slumping against the console. Sienna was laughing: she sounded giddy.

"That was fun," she wheezed. Then she cocked her head to one side. "Can you hear cheering, or is that just me?"

Tyler turned and clambered back out the hatch. Sure enough, as he stepped onto the shoulder, he saw people trickling out of their hiding places, whooping and cheering. He stood there, feeling suddenly awkward. Sienna poked her head out of the hatch, saw the crowd, and climbed out. Bouncing up and down a little, she waved to the crowd.

"Wait, you called me _Ty_?" Tyler asked.

"Oh hush, you."

***Persephone Cafe, Scrimshaw, 10:11 pm***

Alice heard the cheering, and looked out the door. She froze. Eyes wide, she gaped. Then she charged outside, leaving the sheltering civilians to mumble in confusion.

The three big, plate glass windows that formed the front of the cafe had been shattered. Glass glittered like diamonds in the evening light, and crunched underfoot as Alice ran. She looked around in horror, a breeze tugging at her hair. Sirens still wailed outside. A few tables had been overturned, and some debris lay inside, but the only real damage was the windows.

Stepping up to the doorway, Alice looked up at the Megazord. She squinted at it. The two Rangers were just going back into its head. Slowly, ponderously, the Megazord turned and began to stump away.

"Great," she said, straightening and looking around. She put her hands on her hips. "Just great. This had better not become a regular thing."

***Trivia***

Since the only unused Season Ranger was Spring-based, Alice gets a spring reference: Persephone was the daughter of nature goddess Demeter. According to some legends, the reason the seasons exist is because Persephone gets to come back and visit her mom at that point in the year, making her happy and causing spring (winter is when she has to go back and stay with her husband Hades).


	8. Chapter 8: Castle Ridge

Merry Christmas! I still don't own anything I've previously disclaimed.

_Last time we saw the Terra Ranger: Nico had been about to be expelled when his school was attacked by Korassil's forces. Grabbing the Stone Morpher, he fled into the mountains. Eventually, Sensei Blackfeather ordered the school's surrender, and the entire school was placed under surveillance, Dean and Reggie joining Korassil's forces as the Red and Black Rangers.  
_

***February 4th, Appalachians, 7:40 am***

Nico woke up with a start. Pale, early morning light filtered into the little cave, around his petrified legs. He started to change back into flesh, but a gust of cold wind changed his mind. A few birds twittered in the brush outside. It had snowed in the night, and a dusting of snow blanketed the outside.

Nico's stomach growled. He hadn't eaten since...morning before yesterday? No, yesterday morning he'd found some unlucky squirrel's hoard of beechnuts, and he'd been chewing spruce gum since then. Being a rock helped, but he was starting to get lightheaded. As he crawled out of his cave, he heard a thrumming noise. It sounded like an airplane, but bigger, slower, and a lot nearer. Realizing what it meant, Nico slid back into the cave and waited.

The aircraft passed overhead, making the trees sway, and was gone. The noise faded, leaving a startled silence behind. Faintly, footsteps crunched in the snow. Nico held very still, breathing as quietly as he could. This had happened before, a lot—the reason he wasn't in Castle Ridge yet. It'd take a good ten minutes before the searchers passed on.

Nico held his breath as the Kelzak Berserks drew close. A shadow fell over his face. It paused. Crunching footsteps neared. Even though Nico knew his lucky streak had to run out someday, he prayed it wouldn't be now. He wasn't ready for a fight just yet.

Nico almost jumped as the Kelzak stepped on his leg. It paused. He didn't breathe. After a moment, it climbed up onto the rock sheltering him, and soon moved on. In ones and twos, the other searchers faded into the woods. Nico let out a huge sigh of relief.

He crawled out of the hole and stretched. His shoulders and legs were kinked up from curling up in that cave for so long. Through the pines, he glimpsed smoke, and guessed it was coming from Castle Ridge, the nearest town, also home. Finally.

Hurrying down the mountainside, slipping a little in the snow, Nico headed towards Castle Ridge. He heard that spaceship make a few more passes. Each time he curled up and turned into a rock. They probably couldn't see him through the trees, but they might have body heat scanners or something. Up ahead, the trees thinned, and a few houses appeared. Nico didn't stop for them: he kept going until he hit an actual road. Now he realized it'd probably be a good idea to abandon the whole stone body thing. The winter wind cut into him like a knife. Nico ducked his head, shoved his hands deep in his pockets, and kept walking.

A couple of cars whooshed past Nico as he trudged along. He considered hitchhiking, but decided not to bother. He'd walked this far, he could handle a little more, plus who'd pick up a guy dressed like him? His ears and nose stung, and his fingertips were going numb. Soon, he passed the town's wooden welcome sign, stained with brown-black smudges, probably from coal dust. The town had three coal mines, and one was nearby. A faint black powder covered the snow here, where it hadn't been crushed into muddy slush by passing cars. Soon, Nico heard the familiar muffled roars of the processing plants.

Nico sped up. He'd grown up here; he didn't have to think to know which way was home. He'd been gone for…three days now? His Mom was going to throw a fit. Even though Nico dismissed the thought immediately, he realized he'd be glad to see her. A car zoomed by, dousing Nico with icy water, distracting him.

"Hey! Watch it!" He yelled at the departing car. Flicking his dripping hair out of his eyes, he headed onwards. As the water soaked into his clothes, Nico started to shiver. He didn't even care what his Mom said or thought; he just wanted to get home.

Finally, Nico recognized his street. He broke into a run, nearly slipping a few times on the icy road. His house was near the end of the road, windows dark. Mom was probably still at work. Reaching the front steps, Nico fumbled in his pockets for his key. It wasn't there. Of course. With a groan, he jumped off the concrete steps, bent down, and fumbled in the mulch. He came up with a tarnished key, and scrambled to unlock the door.

The house was way too normal after everything Nico had been through. Same green-grey furnishings, same cramped rooms. It still smelled like those cranberry candles his Mom burned over the holidays, and the door whistled as it slammed like always. He checked: his room was just as messy as he'd left it. Flopping down on the couch, Nico started pulling off his boots. The house was cold, but not as cold as outside. Pins and needles started working into his hands, stinging enough to make his fingers clench into claws. Gritting his teeth, Nico waited for it to pass.

As he sat there, dripping on the couch, Nico heard a noise. Straightening, he listened. It was a quiet rasping noise, like someone dragging their fingernails across concrete. Someone with a lot of fingernails. A chill that had nothing to do with the cold ran down Nico's spine. The school had records of the students. All those bad guys had to do was look him up and bam, there was his address. Of course they'd set up a trap at his house, and he'd walked right into it.

The rasping noise came from the back. Nico rose. His leather jacket flopped to the couch. Silently, he walked into the living room. Maybe he could play it cool, then get the jump on them. Whatever 'them' was. Sounded big.

Reaching the back door, Nico listened. It was right outside. Up close, he could hear a quiet rattling noise. Whatever it was, it was buggy. Nico clenched his left fist. With a crackle, his arm turned to stone up to the elbow. Grabbing the doorknob with his free hand, Nico yanked it open and lunged.

His fist cracked a pearly shell, and a blue-white pincer clamped down on his wrist. The thing twisted away, slamming Nico into the door. Long, spidery legs scrabbled against the doorframe and up Nico's body, and he yelled. The bottom segments of each limb were razor-sharp blades: they slashed his clothes and drew blood. As he smacked the hairy things away, the monster dragged him outside. He hit the snow with a thump. Trying to free his arm, Nico got a full look at the monster. It was a spidery humanoid with four long legs sprouting from its back, as well as two more normal-looking arms that ended in pincers. Its cluster of eyes, which made up most of its head, blinked furiously.

It cackled. "Petrifying, aren't I? Don't worry; Mommy Longlegs isn't going to hurt you. Much." Its voice was vaguely feminine and distorted, with a slight echo. Quickly transforming the rest of his body, Nico arched his back and flipped himself upright—right into a swung leg. He staggered sideways, but jumped as Mommy Longlegs tried a leg sweep.

Ducking his head, Nico slammed a fist into the monster's gut. It was softer and paler than its back, and dimpled at the blow. Mommy Longlegs twisted his pinned wrist outwards, forcing Nico to his knees.

"You've been very naughty, Blue Ranger," Mommy Longlegs said. Nico leaned back as she grabbed at his throat, and her pincer closed on air with a noise like shutting scissors. That was when he realized his left wrist was bare. Mommy Longlegs followed his gaze and cackled. "Lose something? It's got to be somewhere."

Looking around wildly, Nico spotted his morpher lying in the snow, yards away. Nico surged to his feet, using the monster's pincers for balance, and delivered a one-two spinning kick. Mommy Longlegs staggered, and its grip loosened. Nico somersaulted out of reach, knocking a leg aside. He scrabbled for the morpher, snatching it up as the monster recovered.

"Terra Storm, Ranger Form!"

_Nico kneels in a dark cave, in full ninja uniform. He somersaults and slams his fist into the floor, cracking the stone. His uniform splinters, falling away to expose his Ranger suit. The flying fragments of stone form a helmet around his head, and he strikes a fighting pose._

"Blue just isn't your color, honey," Mommy Longlegs said, as she faced him. Nico's suit was blue and black, with the Stone sigil—a snarling cougar's head—on the chest and over the visor in silver. It had shoulder, knee, shin and forearm armor as well, black trimmed with silver.

"Stone Claws!" A pair of ninja claws, silver blades on blue grips, materialized in Nico's hands. With a yell, he charged, dropping into a slide as Mommy Longlegs swung a bladed leg at him. Rolling sideways, he jumped to slice another limb through, and was sprayed with white goo. Mommy Longlegs shrieked.

More blades shot towards Nico. Planting both feet, he slashed at anything that came near. Blades sparked off his claws, white goo sprayed with each cut. He started walking towards Mommy Longlegs, almost casually. She snarled.

"What, no more dumb puns?"

In response, Mommy Longlegs charged, swinging with both pincers. Nico ducked and slashed at her stomach, but she moved back in time. Spinning, Nico kicked her incoming leg aside. He dropped and rolled around, coming up behind her. As Mommy Longlegs swung towards him, Nico stabbed. Both of his claws sliced into her gut, and the monster let out a bloodcurdling howl.

Nico tore the Stone Claws free, backflipping away. He landed on one knee, striking a fighting stance. Mommy Longlegs staggered, more white goo dripping out of her wounds. She gurgled, choked, and collapsed. Her legs kept shivering and twitching.

With a sigh, Nico stood up. His visor retracted, and he turned a circle, looking up at the sky. It was white with clouds, bright enough to make the teen squint.

"You see that?" He yelled, pointing to the monster corpse with a gooey claw. "See it? That's what'll happen to anything else you send after me! Got it?"

***Korassil's Ship, Over the Appalachians, 9:14 am***

"Got it," Korassil said, gazing at the Blue Ranger on his viewscreen. He picked up a shiny black creature the size of his palm, and began stroking its back. "Likewise, understand that I will make you eat that boast." Naturally, Nico didn't respond, just demorphed and went back into the house.

Korassil turned off the sound and walked around the console, still carrying the black thing. It was a nanocam, essentially a living camera, one of many he kept scattered throughout the fleet. He'd already sent several to infest Castle Ridge, as well as Terra Academy. If any of the students tried to warn or help Nico, he'd know. The warrior turned on a different screen, and Tauza appeared. She looked better than she had before; rested, even pleased with herself.

"How are the Ethereal Zord repairs going?" He asked.

"Well enough, under the circumstances. We still haven't been able to locate the remaining two Zords: my guess is they're buried somewhere under the mountain."

"Will you still be able to form a Megazord?"

Tauza nodded, brushing her dark hair out of her eyes. "With some reprogramming, yes. The Thinker has offered to assist."

"Logical." Korassil lowered his voice. "Have you bugged everything?"

"Thoroughly. So far Reggie seems to be loyal, even enthusiastic." Tauza almost smiled.

"Good. I've tracked down my missing Ranger. Once he's summoned his Zord from wherever the school hid it, or Sensei Blackfeather talks, I'll take him."

"Hurry. Lothor is getting tired of these delays." Tauza ended the call.

***Trivia***

The Sentai school is called Berugu Ninja Academy. In accordance with Sentai generally being darker than Power Rangers, Berugu Purple was killed in combat with Korassil's counterpart.


	9. Chapter 9: A Doctor in the House

Disclaimer: I own neither the premise nor the submitted characters.

Yes, I'm late. I could say I had a cold and school (which I did, and they didn't help), but the real reason is that I had an internet connection. I sincerely apologize.

_Last time we saw the Earthlight Rangers: Survivors Rat, Jess, Wyatt and Malaya had been picked up by a passing cruise ship, and decided to go to Palencia on the mainland, to find the Sensei's relatives living there. Xumara sent down a monster, ScanJammer, which Wyatt and Jess destroyed (Rat ran away).  
_

***February 6th, Palencia, Belize, 1:15 pm***

Xumara giggled and reached up to rap the fancy, bird-shaped knocker. She stood on the front steps of one of the city's historic district houses, in the better part of town, where the houses all looked as colorful and froofy as overly ambitious wedding cakes. After a moment, the door opened, and a butler looked down his hooked nose at her.

"Hello," Xumara said, smiling widely up at him. "You're going to let me in, now."

The man quirked an eyebrow, and began to shut the door. Raising an arm, Xumara shot fabric tendrils from her sleeve, snaring him around the throat. As he gagged and struggled in his bonds, Xumara stepped aside, and snapped her fingers.

"Doctor Mesmer," she said, and a monster materialized in the street. It looked like an unnaturally gangly, tall man, in a Victorian suit and top hat covered in psychedelic designs. Straightening, he drew out a pocket watch. Xumara looked away as he stepped forward, swinging it back and forth. The unlucky butler couldn't take his eyes off the monster.

"When I count to five," Doctor Mesmer said, in a slimy, unnaturally deep voice, "You will fall into a deep sleep, and do whatever I tell you. One, two…"

***3:30 pm***

"I can't believe you just ran like that," Jess was saying to Rat. Wyatt knocked on the door again and stepped back, waiting. The four survivors of the Earthlight attack stood on the front step of a large, brightly-colored house. This was the better, historic section of town, so the cobblestone streets were wide and mostly clean.

"Look, would you just shut up? You and Wyatt took care of the monster, didn't you?" Rat retorted.

"No thanks to you."

"I was going to evacuate the rest of the ship if it got away from you."

Jess snorted. "Right."

She shifted Malaya from one hip to the other with a groan. "You're big enough to stand, Malaya."

As she started putting the toddler down, Malaya squealed and clung to her arms. Shaking her head, Jess picked her up again. Malaya wrapped one plump arm around Jess's neck and began sucking on her other hand.

The door finally opened, and a middle-aged man in a suit looked out at the group. His expression was carefully blank as he took in the teenagers and toddler. Jess stepped to the front.

"Good morning, we're Jess Walsh, Wyatt O'Hare and Mason Green, we're expected."

"You are. Come in, please." His English was impeccable.

He held the door open, and the group filed in. The hallway was long and wide, with a thick, ornate carpet that muffled their footsteps. Reaching a huge, wood-paneled room lit with cathedral windows, the butler gestured to a set of overstuffed chairs. The teens sat. As the butler left, Wyatt whistled.

"This place is huge." His voice echoed around the room. "Who lives here?"

"Sensei Kai's cousin, Joselito Kai, and his family. They sent us a message that the Zords were finished; they should be able to tell us where they are."

"We have Zords? Cool," Wyatt said.

"Zords? Are you sure we need to go that far? I mean, the bad guys—whoever they are—sent one monster, and we got rid of it," Rat said.

"Do you want to count on them not coming after us a third time?" Jess asked.

Rat shrank in his seat. "No."

Jess gave Malaya, struggling in her lap, an annoyed glance. "So _now_ you want to get down, huh?" Malaya just whimpered.

A set of double doors on the far side of the room opened, and the three students looked up to see a middle-aged Filipino man enter. He wore a business suit, and his short black hair was greying at the temples. Crossing the room, he sat down with the group.

"Jess, it's been a long time," he said. "A pity we had to meet under these circumstances."

"Agreed," Jess replied, trying to hold onto the wriggly Malaya. "Do you know who's behind these attacks, or why?"

"Yes, but no need to worry about that right away. I'm sure you're all tired after everything you've been through." His voice was soothing.

At that point, Wyatt spoke up. "Um, sorry to interrupt, but where's the bathroom?"

Mr. Kai blinked, nonplussed. Then he gestured to the doors they'd come in through.

"First door on the left in that hall."

"Thanks!" Wyatt left.

The awkward silence lasted until the door swung shut after him. Sitting up, Jess released Malaya, who plopped on the floor and started scooting around on her backside. The Pink Ranger folded her arms.

"Thanks for your concern, but considering everything that's happened, I think we need to be ready in case we get another attack."

"I wasn't at Earthlight Island, but from the news and various reports, you've all been through more than enough for children your age." Jess bristled a little at being called a child. Pulling herself upright, Malaya climbed onto the sofa and flopped back, blinking sleepily at the man. "But if it makes you feel better, we've been monitoring the local airspace, and whatever-it-was that attacked Earthlight is long gone. You're safe here. You don't need to worry about any more monsters." He'd pulled a watch out of his pocket, and now turned it over and over in his hand.

Jess, still frowning, glanced down at Malaya, and then Rat. He had slouched back in his armchair and was staring at the host. Raising the watch, Mr. Kai began swinging it back and forth. It cut a silvery arc through the air, humming so faintly it was more felt than heard.

"However," he said, his voice not losing any of its molasses smoothness, "on the subject of security, do you know where the Zords are?"

"…Zords?" Jess cocked her head to one side, blinking owlishly.

"Your Zords. The Komodo Dragon, the Firefly, and the Mongoose—well, the Albatross too, though we don't have a pilot for it." Mr. Kai chuckled. His brownish skin seemed paler than before, almost chalky.

"Dunno. Never saw them."

"Tell us what you know," coaxed Mr. Kai. "Any clues, something the Sensei mentioned to you."

The door slammed open, making Jess and Rat jump and look around wildly. Wyatt came back inside and dropped onto the couch with Jess, jostling her. She scrambled back, visibly confused. Mr. Kai's expression darkened.

"What did I miss?" Wyatt asked. "Why are you swinging your watch around like that? My Grandfather used to have a watch like that, but when my Dad was little, he swung it around and the chain broke, and the watch went flying out a window. We never did find it."

"What?" Mr. Kai was so nonplussed he stopped.

"The only time I've seen someone swing a watch around was in a big musical number in some movie—or that time my cousin tried to learn hypnotism. Oh, is that what you're doing? Hypnotism? Cool. Is it working?"

"Hypno…wait," Jess said, as realization dawned on her face.

Rat sprang to his feet, eyes wide with alarm. Jess followed a second later, dropping into a fighting stance. Mr. Kai didn't move, only glowered at them.

"Who are you really?" Rat demanded.

"What have you done with the Kais?" Jess added.

"Hold still and you'll see." The imposter raised the pocket watch and hit the catch.

"Earthlight Storm, Ranger Form!" All three Rangers shouted at once, transforming as a kaleidoscope of light exploded from the watch. Their visors shielded their eyes from the blast.

"You want to see our weapons? You've got it. Dragon Arrow!"

A pink-and-copper bow shaped like a dragon, head forming one horn and curling tail the other, materialized in her hands. Drawing a matching arrow from the air, Jess took aim at the imposter.

"Glow Jutte!" Two copper-hilted daggers, each with one hooked guard like a broken sai, appeared. Green laser blades burst to life as Rat activated them, and he crossed them over his head.

"Magma Knuckles!" Two sets of copper-and-red brass knuckles formed on Wyatt's fingers.

"Very pretty," the imposter said, rising from his chair.

He stood up and up and up until he was seven feet high, with a long face and nose and swirling eyes. He'd turned back into Dr. Mesmer. His watch had grown, and now he wrapped the chain around one hand and began swinging it around like a meteor hammer.

"Uh-oh," Rat said, looking less confident at the sight of the monster's own weapon.

"But you're just children playing with weapons. In the end, you're only going to hurt yourselves," Dr. Mesmer continued.

"I bet that's what the other guy was thinking, too," Jess retorted, and fired.

Whirling the watch-meteor hammer, Dr. Mesmer shattered the arrow, and the next three Jess shot at him. Kicking off the sofa, Wyatt slammed into Dr. Mesmer fists-first. The monster staggered back. Recovering, he wrapped the chain around Wyatt's throat, dragging him off-balance as he somersaulted away.

"Rat, give him a hand!" Jess yelled, moving away and trying to get a better shot.

"Me?"

"Fine, get Malaya out of here!"

"Okay."

Flipping his Glow Jutte back into nothingness, Rat sprang to the couch, snatched up the half-awake Malaya, and ran out of the room. Wyatt managed to twist away, and Jess fired an arrow, hitting Dr. Mesmer in the shoulder. The monster staggered with a grunt of pain. Flipping free, Wyatt slammed his fist into the monster's long nose with a crunch.

Dr. Mesmer staggered back, just in time to take an arrow to the thigh. He staggered and slumped to one knee, and Wyatt got ready for another charge. Wheezing, Dr. Mesmer raised his watch and snapped it open. Jess saw it coming and shielded her eyes, but Wyatt took the full blinding blast. It threw him into the sofa, tipping it backwards.

Springing faster than looked possible for an old, gangly thing like Dr. Mesmer, the monster leaped onto Wyatt and planted one foot on his throat. The Scarlet Ranger choked, clawing at Dr. Mesmer. Whirling the watch-meteor hammer, Dr. Mesmer brought it down. Wyatt moved aside just in time: the floorboards splintered where the watch hit. Without looking, Dr. Mesmer deflected one of Jess's arrows back at her. She ducked.

"Okay, enough projectile weapons. Earthlight Katana!" Swinging the sword over her head, Jess kicked off a sofa and leaped. Dr. Mesmer jumped aside at the last second. The katana sank into the floor next to Wyatt's face. With a thud, her feet landed on either side of his body.

Before Jess could recover, the chain wrapped around her arms, and Dr. Mesmer jerked her towards himself. She staggered and pulled back, but the monster was stronger. He chuckled as he reeled her in. Black blood ran out of his broken nose, dripping down his pointed chin and staining his teeth.

"You're feeling sleepy," he cackled. "Very sleepy."

"Fat chance!"

Jess ran towards him. Without the resistance, the monster fell off-balance. The Pink Ranger threw him flat, backed up and axe-kicked him in the chest as he tried to rise. Flipping himself upright, Wyatt yanked out Jess's katana and summoned his own. Whirling them both, he ran to help.

At the last second, Dr. Mesmer yanked the chain. It had tangled around Jess's foot, and threw her flat on her back. Wyatt leaped over her, katanas extended. Dr Mesmer wasn't able to duck this time. Both curved blades sank into his bony chest. The momentum drove them in to the hilt, pinning him to the floor. The monster went limp.

Wyatt straightened, and yanked the swords out one at a time. Black blood formed lacy patterns on the blades. Getting up, Jess took hers, and wiped it on Dr. Mesmer's coat. Both teens sent their weapons back to where they'd come from, and demorphed.

"So, whoever they are, they know we're here," Jess said.

"I guess. We still won, though," Wyatt replied, dusting himself off. He glanced around the room. Disemboweled furniture lay scattered around, stuffing spilling out of the rips. A painting had been blasted into ash, and smoke trailed from black splotches in the carpet. "Are we going to have to pay for fixing this?"

Jess shook her head, shrugging.

"Guys!" Rat's voice rang out. As they turned, he looked in through the double doors. He'd demorphed as well. "I've found everyone else!"

***Trivia***

Palencia is named after an actual city in Spain, since when I was coming up with names, I noticed a trend of borrowed Spanish locations.


	10. Chapter 10: Finding the Scent

Still don't own the franchise or the submissions.

_Last time we saw the Ethereal Rangers: The trio had finally escaped the labyrinth beneath the Academy, only to be attacked by Tauza's ship and the Screech Owlzord. Summoning their own Zords, the three fought back, but lost: the school was destroyed and their Zords captured, with the ninjas retreating to a nearby Nepali village to recover._

***February 6th, Former Location of the Ethereal Academy, 5:30 am***

Susana crouched behind a boulder, watching Tauza's Snipers repair the Zords. Over the last few days they'd erected skeletal scaffolding over the fallen robots and pieced them back together. It looked like the foot soldiers were working manually, not using something evil or nasty that only Tauza could control, though everyone had been nervous when they started taking things apart. Now the Zords were basically in one piece each, and from the looks of it, almost finished.

The Screech Owlzord's pilot, a Black Ranger, was wandering through the construction, morphed. Susana had watched him for a while, wondering whether he could be trusted. It looked like the answer was a resounding no: he wasn't under guard, nor did he look mind-controlled. He had his helmet on, but the visor was open.

As he stood on the Pandazord, he looked up, and for a second, Susana thought he was looking directly at her. She held absolutely still. He was too far away for her to manipulate his emotions—she hadn't learned it that well—so she didn't dare try making him think he hadn't seen anything. (That was how she'd avoided patrols up until now.)

After a moment, the Black Ranger looked away. Susana relaxed as he went on, shouting something at the Snipers busying themselves all around him. Susana slid back through the snow. Turning, she marine-crawled through the drifts, sweeping a foot behind herself to try and cover her track as she went. Something pricked her ankle, but she shrugged it off as a protruding rock.

Finally, she got far enough to ninja streak. Just to be sure, she took a long, looping route back to the village. It had been sunny every day since the storm, but the snow had barely melted out here. It was still almost thigh-deep in places, making anything but ninja-streaking insanely slow.

Susana had worked up a good sweat by the time she saw the village. She zipped down the slope and stopped in the middle of the village. Easton and Kerri were waiting; as usual, Easton had found somebody to help: today it was a man loading up a yak. Wrinkling her nose at the musty, sour yak smell, Susana joined her fellow ninjas. Like her, they were in their out-of-morph uniforms.

"Repairs are coming along, everything still looks normal. Also I'm pretty sure those changes are just so the three can form a Megazord," she reported.

"They must not have the other morphers—or else they've lost the Zords and want to reconnect them," Easton said.

"They can do that?" Kerri asked, lifting her head off her fist and looking awake for the first time.

"Why not?" Susana shrugged.

"Hold this." Easton passed her a rope, and having nothing better to do, Susana held it. The cord was soft with use. Easton crouched, tying a complex knot. The man he was helping said something in Nepali, looking Susana up and down, and Easton laughed.

"What did he say?" Kerri asked.

"It would take too long to explain." Easton glanced at Susana and chuckled again. She gave him a withering stare, which he ignored. Reaching back, he took the rope away from her. "Thanks."

"Whatever."

Susana noticed the sky was just starting to lighten in the east, and wandered off. Back in her first month of attending the school, she'd found a pretty, quiet spot she could be alone and think without freezing. It was a lake in a sheltered little valley where the wind couldn't blow. Stopping by the edge of the water, Susana sat down, crossed her legs, and gazed at the blue-violet clouds on the horizon.

This wasn't what she'd expected when she'd signed up for ninja school. Susana rolled her eyes at how silly that sounded, but it was still true. The first couple of months had been just what she'd expected. A lot of classes, a lot of chores, some mild hazing from the senior students, and a lot of guys she was supposed to obey. Apparently the school had been integrated a couple hundred years ago, but from some of those guys' attitudes, you'd think it had been yesterday, and just so they could have hot girls to hit on in class. Susana smiled a little, remembering how well she'd put the worst bunch in their place. Sure, she'd gotten punished—and argued it all the way—but they'd stopped picking on the new girls.

"Susana?"

Hearing Easton's voice, Susana twisted around and looked up. The young man stood on the edge of the slope, looking down at her with an expression of near terror. Confused, Susana stood, dusting her uniform off.

"Easton? What's wrong?"

"I-I was just looking for you, making sure you were okay. None of us should wander off alone," Easton said.

He wasn't looking at her; he was looking at the lake. Susana frowned and glanced from it to him. When she did, he backed up a step. Was he hyperventilating?

"You didn't answer my question. What's wrong?"

Easton swallowed hard, and ran a hand down his face. "Nothing."

Susana glared. "Really? You look like you've seen a ghost, Easton; you're not even _trying_ to fool me."

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

Susana folded her arms. "Try me."

"I'm scared of lakes." The words came out in a rush so fast Susana almost didn't understand.

She stared up at him for a moment. Easton looked down at his feet, shifting in place. In the faint dawn light, she could see his face was pale and taut. She didn't even need to sense his emotions to see that he wasn't kidding; it was all he could do to not bolt then and there. After a moment, Susana found her voice.

"Are you kidding me?"

"Susana—"

"Okay, fine, whatever, you know where I am now, I'm fine, you can go back to the village where the big scary lake won't hurt you anymore."

"You should come back with me. Being this far away from the rest of us is dangerous."

Easton still wouldn't look in the direction of the water. This was getting ridiculous. Susana came a step closer, away from the lake, and he finally made eye contact with her.

"Look, all I want is a little time by myself to think. If anything happens to me, get this, _I can take care of myself_. You know where I am, so just go away and leave me in peace, okay?"

Easton hesitated. With a groan, Susana turned away, walked to the edge of the water, and plunked down on the snow. After a moment, she heard him turn and walk away. She felt a twinge of guilt, but quickly dismissed it. He wasn't her boss; he couldn't make her stay away from a harmless body of water just because it scared him. Besides, she really could take care of herself.

That scratch on her ankle still stung. Looking down, Susana realized that whatever-it-was that had stabbed her had gone right through her boot, leaving a pinprick hole. Susana tugged off her boot to get a better look at the wound. A red-brown stain darkened her sock around it, but when she rolled it down, the cut looked like it had stopped bleeding. Shrugging it off, Susana rolled her sock back up and put her boot on. It wasn't a big deal; she'd just have to be more careful next time.

***Cave Shelter, Just Outside the Village, 9:40 pm***

Kerri sat in the middle of the cave, near the smelly kerosene lamp, carefully stretching her healing leg. The villagers had shown them this hideout after a couple of days, when Easton had asked. He was worried the bad guys might notice them and attack if they stayed in the village too long. Apparently this cave was one of several hideouts the Ethereal Academy maintained.

At that point, Kerri heard someone coming, and sat up. Whoever-it-was pushed the secret entrance open and shuffled inside, getting the snow off their boots. They limped just a little, and sounded out of breath.

"Who's there? Susana?"

"Yeah."

Susana sat down with a thump, and blew out a long breath. Kerri's terrible vision was all but nonexistent in the cave, even with the yellowy kerosene lamplight, but she could make out a shadowy Susana rubbing her leg. Faintly, she smelled blood in the air.

"Are you okay? You were limping."

"Yeah, I just cut myself on a rock or something, it's no big deal. Where's Easton? He's usually back here by now."

"Dunno, probably helping someone in the village. He's either really bored or just that desperate to help somebody," Kerri said, moving closer to the dim yellow light of the lamp. It was the warmest part of the cave.

Susana snorted a little, and shifted onto one of the mattresses nearby. She started pulling off her boots.

"Whatever. So long as he doesn't let in a draft when he comes back, I don't care."

Susana hissed just a little as she got one boot off, and paused to check her ankle. After a moment, she shrugged and lay down. Having nothing better to do, Kerri scooted around the lamp to one of the other beds.

As she messed with the furs and blankets, she heard a faint howling sound from outside, almost too distant to hear. It wasn't anything particularly weird, the wind tended to howl, but Kerri paused. If he'd noticed it was getting that windy, Easton would have already come back. Like he kept telling them, the mountains were dangerous at night in a storm.

The howling picked up. It didn't sound like the wind; it didn't glide up and down, it just trembled a little, like a singer holding a high note. Kerri sat up, listening intently. The sound faded. A moment later, it rose again, louder this time.

"Susana?"

The other girl shifted. "What?"

"Can you hear that?"

Susana listened for half a second. "No. Go to sleep."

Kerri shushed her, rising to her feet. The yowl swelled and faded. It was definitely getting louder.

"Something's coming," Kerri said.

Susana sat up, blankets rustling. "What?"

"Shush!" Kerri crossed the room and pressed her ear to the secret entrance. She couldn't echolocate through walls, unfortunately, but she listened as carefully as she could, holding her breath. The howl started again, even closer this time.

"Okay, I heard that," Susana said, rising. "That's not the wind, is it?"

"We should probably douse the light," Kerri said, stepping away from the wall. She heard Susana moving to obey. "Then sit down and hold still."

"Right. Get rid of anything to let him find us."

The light went out, and soon Susana stopped moving. Kerri breathed as quietly as she could, listening intently. Again, the howl rose through the night, closer than ever. It was definitely a monster.

Footsteps shuffled into the cave, and Kerri flinched. She slid away from the wall and crouched, ready to fight even though she really, really didn't want to. By the sound of it, Susana was getting ready as well. The footsteps shuffled forward. The monster had four feet, and they were large. Claws clicked on the stone floor, and low breaths huffed as it drew nearer. It was sniffing. Despite the creeping chill, Kerri's hands grew slick with sweat.

The monster threw itself at the entrance with a boom, and both girls jumped. Kerri stifled a shriek and scrambled back as the monster clawed and scratched at the secret door, snarling like a wolf.

"It knows, we should just morph," Susana said, catching her by the elbow.

"Right."

Kerri fumbled, but found her morpher. The cracks in its surface felt bigger than it had been before, and she remembered that sick feeling that had come over her the last time she'd morphed. But there was no time: the secret door groaned and shivered as the monster attacked.

"Ethereal Storm, Ranger Form!"

Moving in synchronization, the two slammed into the door, flinging it open on the monster. Somersaulting, Kerri flipped around just in time to feel a massive paw swing past her. Scrambling back, she focused on echolocating. The monster's constant snarling and growling gave it a shape: it was enormous, a jowly, scarred, wrinkly dog covered in cybernetic attachments. It crouched and leaped at her, and she ducked aside.

"Projection Blade!" Susana shouted, and Kerri saw the blue flash as she drew the sword.

"Sound Slicers!" Kerri shouted.

For a second, she felt two weapon hafts in her hands, but then they faded. A shock like electricity shot through her body, and she crumpled, clutching her stomach. The monster slammed bodily into her, its steel teeth clamping down on her arm. It didn't tear her suit, but she felt a surge of white-hot energy pulse up her shoulder, and screamed.

"Kerri!"

Susana was already there, slashing and hacking at the monster. Kerri slipped free and fell back, alternately clutching her arm, shoulder and stomach. She felt like she was going to be sick. Fighting back across the cave, Susana and the monster blurred together into a collection of flailing limbs.

Gathering herself, Kerri stood and charged. She rammed straight into the monster's slick back, and delivered a solid front kick. It stumbled, and she followed the blow up with a back leg roundhouse, then a few rapid jabs.

The monster's enormous jaws closed around her waist, and before Kerri knew what was happening, it had flung her out of the cave. She hit the snow and rolled, stopping herself with outflung arms. Susana rolled into her a second later, grunted and sprang to her feet. Kerri scrambled up after her, just in time for the monster to leap towards them.

Susana shoved Kerri aside, and she fell flat on her back. As Kerri scrambled up, she made out Susana stepping away, towards the monster. At the very last second, she stabbed her sword straight up into the air. The monster fell directly on it with a disturbingly meaty crunch, and both went rolling down the mountainside.

Kerri ran after them, and heard them slam into a boulder. Still dizzy and sick, she staggered after them. More stabbing, slashing, yelling and roaring carried towards her. As she went, she accidentally kicked something small and round away. That was odd. Bending down, she felt around and found it, standing again.

"Kerri?" Susana sounded exhausted, but very much alive.

Kerri hurried down towards her, feeling the ball. With a sinking feeling, she recognized it. As she reached Susana and the now very dead monster, she held it up. Susana stopped.

"Easton's morpher."

"Uh-huh."

Susana smacked her helmet. "Great."

***Ruins of the Ethereal Academy, 10:17 pm***

In the faint moonlight, Tauza and Reggie wandered among the partly-disassembled Ethereal Zords. Reggie was morphed again, but Tauza seemed oblivious to the cold.

"I think your stupid dog is dead," Reggie said, as a cluster of Snipers appeared on the crest of the hill. "Ve should have taken ze Sapphire Ranger ven ve had ze chance."

"Wrong. Bl00dhound has tracked her back to their hiding place," Tauza replied, not even looking at him. "Even if he's been destroyed, we'll be able to find them easily. Besides, I think he's succeeded."

The group finally reached the pair. Shoving Easton forward, the Snipers forced him to his knees. He struggled, but the chains wound around him were locked securely. Tauza smirked at him.

"Hello, Lewis."

***Trivia***

I went back and forth on this one for a little while, but decided to make Susana's quiet spot an ordinary lake, not connected to any monsters.


	11. Chapter 11: Ice Queen

Disclaimer: I don't own the fandom. The OCs du Jour come from storytyper2, DeathDealer1997 and InsertDecentNameHere.

_Last time we saw the Season Rangers: The Thinker used the captured Season Megazord to attack the city, but Tyler and Sienna managed to defeat the monster controlling it._

***February 6th, Murdock Facility for the Criminally Insane, New Zealand, 11:14 am***

Anya sat alone in a corner of the outdoor enclosure, facing the wall. In front of her stood a dandelion, nodding in the summer breeze. A few other inmates wandered around, white-clad nurses keeping a close eye on them. Out of the corner of her eye, Anya could see her own orderly nearby.

It had been over a week since Master Von Kreig's last visit. Anya could feel the cold building up inside her, without him to stifle it. She focused inward, setting her hands facing outwards against her chest. A cold gust blew her loose brown hair back, and white energy flowed from her hands. The dandelion and grass around it froze, glittering with frost. Anya grinned. Her ninja power had come back faster than she'd thought.

Standing, Anya turned and headed back inside. She needed to collect her things before she left. Immediately, the orderly moved to intercept her. With one gesture, Anya encased her feet in ice, rooting her to the spot. The girl had been pretty nice, not worth killing or even seriously hurting. The orderly didn't seem to see it the same way: she started screaming.

Anya broke into a run as the others started to chase her. She glanced back over her shoulder, counted six, and grinned. She'd been waiting for this for a long time. Slamming into the door, she froze the lock, and twisted the doorknob. It snapped off with a crack, and Anya pulled the door open. Planting a hand on it, she froze it shut after herself. One of the nurses ran into it with a thunk, and Anya laughed as they shouted in confusion.

The locker room was . . . down the hall and through the fourth door to the left. A siren started to wail as Anya darted down the passage, counting doors. She'd already practiced her ninja powers, now for a little hand-to-hand training. Anya froze the hinges and lock on the door, backed up, and delivered a powerful roundhouse kick. The door flew across the hall and crashed into a wall, hitting the floor with a boom.

Anya sauntered inside, and looked at the orderlies standing stock-still inside. Smirking, she gestured for them to run. Exchanging looks, the orderlies gathered and started towards her. Anya rolled her eyes and lunged. Diving under the first grab, she somersaulted and kicked the next man's knees, dropping him. She flipped herself upright and axe-kicked the third orderly right in the face: she staggered back clutching a bleeding, broken nose, wailing. Slowly, Anya turned on the last man. He was smart enough to run.

"Still got it," Anya said, dusting her hands off.

One of the buttons had come off her hospital pajamas, but she shrugged. Stepping over a moaning orderly, she counted the lockers, stopped, and froze a door. Smashing it, she reached inside and pulled out a wrinkly Season Academy uniform, trimmed with white stripes. Reaching further inside, Anya grinned, and pulled out an elegant, silver-and-white katana.

"It's been too long," she said, pulling the katana out of its sheath a little. She tsked. "You're dull, sweetheart. We'll soon fix that."

As the alarms continued to scream, Anya left, delicately stepping around the moaning orderlies.

***Anahera Forest, New Zealand, 1:20 pm***

The Thinker stood on the edge of a clearing, waiting for his Spider Drones to finish scouting. He didn't want any witnesses; people meant a way for the Rangers to find him and spoil his plans. Pulling out his handheld computer, he flicked through the list of Winter Ninjas again. Too bad most of the competent ones were such do-gooders; he needed someone skilled enough to wield the Winter Morpher, but also pliable enough to obey him. He'd asked Dean, but the Red Ranger's hatred for other schools prevented him from thinking clearly. A pity, but if the boy ever turned on him, it could be a valuable weakness. The Thinker had been privately cataloguing the weaknesses of each of his current allies from the beginning.

Finally, the Spider Drones trundled back into the clearing. Leaves crunched at their approach, sticking to their spindly legs like the spokes of a rake. One blipped a message in Morse Code: all clear.

"Good," the Thinker said. "Guard formation."

Obediently, the Spider Drones moved to form a ring around the clearing. The Thinker hit a button, and in blue-white flashes, six ninja students materialized in the clearing. He waited a few seconds as they dropped into fighting stances, looking around in bewilderment. None were dumb enough to try to flee, at least. When they'd recovered from their shock, he cleared his throat.

"You five are the best of your discipline. I need one of you to work for me as a White Ranger. Whoever succeeds will gain the morpher and be allowed certain privileges, including one request. The losers will return to their former imprisonment." His voice sharpened. "Any traitors will be executed on the spot. Understood?"

They did, though they didn't look happy about it. One boy in particular looked almost ready to turn on the Thinker. He gestured, and understanding, they fanned out into two lines of three, facing each other. The Thinker let them do the formalities, bowing to each other and striking fighting stances. Leaning on his cane, he watched as they began to fight.

The clearing air filled with noise rapidly: crunching leaves, thumps of punches and kicks meeting flesh, grunts and panting from the fighters. All moved rapidly and wordlessly, as if this was nothing more than a tournament. That potentially rebellious boy was doing well. Each blow was accompanied by a loud "Keeyah!" He especially wanted to win, that was clear. Interesting. A quick check proved that his name was Lyle Nolan.

Still, the Thinker wasn't so interested in the fight that he didn't notice one of the Spider Drones turn around. He glanced up. The machine must have detected something. It raised its guns, but before it could fire, a grey-white blur shot over it, backflipping and landing with feet wide apart. Raising a katana, the newcomer stabbed it into the Spider Drone as it started to recover, the blade tearing through its hull and coming out the other side. Sparks bled from the holes.

Leaving the sword where it was, the newcomer—a young woman—somersaulted up to the other fighting ninjas and joined in. The Thinker scrutinized the girl with interest. Dark, but fine features, probably of Middle Eastern descent. Wore a Winter Ninja uniform, wrinkled, blade had a brand-new edge—she'd dressed and armed in a hurry, and it had been a while since either uniform or sword had been used, but she was clearly very skilled. A former student? She wasn't in the files, probably didn't leave the school on good terms. Expelled? Some of the older ninjas recognized her and seemed alarmed; the younger ones were just confused. Definitely expelled, several years ago at least.

As these thoughts flew through the Thinker's head, the woman roundhouse-kicked an older student right out of the cluster, rabbit-punched another in the gut enough to knock her down, and caught a third in a headlock. The remaining three charged her. Swinging the ninja she still held out, she blocked the first man's punches. Lyle Nolan lunged at her from behind, but she seized his arm and twisted it around so he punched himself in the face. The final girl came in with a low leg sweep, but Anya leaped over it and threw both boys at her. They fell in a tangled heap.

Well, this was a contest for the most powerful Winter Ninja. A student without attachments to the school might be more loyal. The Thinker began teleporting away those who clearly didn't want to fight anymore. Then he pulled out his handheld computer and began searching through Season Academy's other files for any mention of this stranger.

Struggling to their feet, the three younger ninjas struck fighting stances in a row. The stranger now had the older man in a headlock. Turning, she grinned at them, and gestured for them to come at her. They obeyed, and she swung the man out to arm's length, bodily slamming into the girl ninja. With a loud yell, one of the boys leaped over his head, aiming a kick at the stranger's head. She ducked and delivered a kick to his mid-back. His momentum threw him flat on his face. An axe kick to the back finished him: he stopped trying to get up. The Thinker teleported him away.

Before the stranger could get up, Nolan's legs locked around her neck. He somersaulted over her head, flipping her flat on her back. As she struggled to get up, he drove an elbow into her solar plexus. She brought her knees up, but Nolan jumped out of the way, slamming a hand down on her throat to hold her still. The other two ninjas had been standing and watching the entire time. Rolling his eyes, the Thinker teleported them away. Hesitation, cowardice, distraction, whatever it was, he didn't need it.

The computer blipped. The Thinker glanced down at it. There was a photo of the stranger—but not in school files. It was from a news report from three years ago. _"Katana Girl" Insane? Doctors Discover Tell-Tale Signs of Sociopathy._ There were a few other news stories along those lines, which the Thinker scrolled through to skim. His mystery contestant was one Anya Barnes.

Anya caught Nolan's wrist and pushed, arching her back to flip over. He brought up a swift uppercut with his other hand, but she leaned back to avoid it. Swiftly, he pushed, trying to force her off-balance, but she turned it into a somersault and came up out of reach. Standing, the pair circled for a minute, both breathing hard.

In a rush, Anya charged with a high axe kick. As Nolan ducked that, he brought his head down on her uppercut. Recovering, he feinted to the left, switched legs and drove a punch into her gut. She backed up, and Nolan pressed his advantage, forcing her backwards with a series of rapid blows, blocking any punches she threw. The Thinker realized Anya's plan, and wondered if Nolan would. It didn't look like it.

They'd almost backed into the Spider Drones by now. Anya fell down with a thump, scrambling away as Nolan advanced on her. He clearly thought he'd already won. As he prepared for the coup de grace, Anya's arm shot back, grasping the katana hilt back-handed. Dragging her katana free, she swung the blade up over Nolan's arm and against his throat. He froze, but it still slashed his neck. A little blood stained the blade.

"Enough," the Thinker interrupted. He teleported Nolan back to the ship with the others, and entered the clearing. Anya flipped the katana around, cleaned the blade on the leaves, and stood up, sheathing it across her back. "Very good. Do you know what you have just done?"

"Won?" She was still tensed and ready to fight.

"Won the Winter Morpher," the Thinker corrected her. "Let's just say Season Academy is under new management now."

Anya stopped and straightened. A slow smile spread across her face. "Finally."

The Thinker hit a button on his computer, and the Winter Morpher teleported into his hand. He held it out, and Anya immediately strapped it around her waist.

"Your Zord, and the others, have been stolen by a pair of runaway students. I'll need you to retrieve them," the Thinker began.

"Thanks for the tip, I'll take care of that," Anya interrupted. She smirked at him again. "Oh, did you think I was really on your side? You're not very clever, are you?"

"Clever enough to know you might be unpredictable, Anya Barnes," the Thinker replied, his voice not breaking an octave. Around them, the Spider Drones raised their weapons. "Don't try anything unless you want to be vaporized."

Anya glanced around at the robots with a bored air. "Oh, right, them. Funny thing about machinery." She raised a hand, and white energy began to glow around it. "Doesn't do well in the cold."

Anya hurled the energy ball to the ground. It exploded, blanketing everything in white. The hologram of the Thinker flickered and died as its emitter was frozen solid.

From the safety of the ship, the real Thinker looked back at the viewscreen. All of the Spider Drones had frozen solid, and Anya was nowhere to be seen. He growled. She was faster and bolder than he'd guessed: from the looks of it, she'd gotten hit a few times before escaping, so at least that would slow her down. The other generals would not be pleased that he'd lost another morpher—even if its new wielder wasn't exactly on the other Rangers' side. He'd find her soon enough.

***Trivia***

Lyle Nolan, and all of the other minor students previously mentioned, got his name from an online generator on Seventh Sanctum.


	12. Chapter 12: Shinobi Strike

Disclaimer: The show belongs to Saban, today's OC to Neoangelius.

_Last time we saw the Terra Ranger: Having finally gotten past Korassil's patrols, Nico reached his home and fought off one of Korassil's monsters. The space ninja, watching everything with some of the many nanocams he'd planted around Castle Ridge, was not perturbed._

***February 7th, Ramirez Home, Castle Ridge, 10:20 am***

"For the last time, just tell me, where have you been?" Mrs. Ramirez yelled.

"Oh, so now you care all of a sudden what I've been doing?" Nico snapped from his room. He was going through his things, dumping everything he didn't need on the floor and packing useful stuff in a duffel—just in case those space ninjas made a move.

"Don't play that game with me, Nico. You were gone for a week! No phone call, no message, I couldn't even get ahold of the school!"

The door banged open, and Nico jumped as his Mom looked inside. She was a tall, polished-looking woman, always immaculate even when she was angry—and she was very angry. Arms folded, she glared down at him.

"Talk."

Nico stood up, ran a hand through his hair, and sighed. "I got hazed. A coupla nights ago, some of the guys from the school grabbed me out of bed, tied me up and put a bag over my head, and dumped me somewhere in the mountains. I only just found my way back. Okay?"

"What?" His mother's expression altered to surprise. "Who? That cannot be legal! I'm calling your school."

"Mom, don't," Nico protested, following her back into the living room.

She was already dialing the phone. "I don't care if you're embarrassed, Nico, I am not going to stand for this. You could have gotten seriously hurt or even killed." She stood silently for a moment as the phone rang, tapping one long fingernail on the phone. After a moment, she hung up and dialed again. "Nobody's answering."

They wouldn't be, Nico thought. Whatever had happened at Terra Academy, he guessed talking to a student's upset mom wasn't high on their priority list. He realized he didn't actually know what had happened, beyond monsters attacking and probably winning.

As his Mom dialed again, Nico heard a distant, deep crash, like a falling tree. He almost didn't notice, but a second boom followed, and then a third. The noise was coming from the far side of town. Slipping past his Mom, Nico went to the front door and looked out. At first, he didn't see it.

With a deafening buzz, a huge black shape swooped over the city. Nico ducked instinctively, and looked up in disbelief as the thing dropped towards the coal processing plant. It was insectlike, with a long body and spindly legs. More crashes, and even a few faint screams, echoed from the place.

"What is that?" Mrs. Ramirez exclaimed, looking out past him.

"Dunno," Nico said, squinting at the shape. "But I think it's attacking."

"Go in the basement," his Mom ordered, returning to the phone. "I'll call around; make sure our friends are safe."

Without replying, Nico turned and headed for the basement. He slammed the door automatically, ducked behind a case of Christmas decorations, and held up his morpher. He'd think of an excuse later.

"Terra Storm, Ranger Form!"

***Korassil's Ship, Castle Ridge Airspace, 10:43 am***

Korassil punched the intercom on his console. "Malwaria! What do you think you're doing?" He demanded.

On the screen before him, he could see a massive mosquito shoving her serrated mouthparts into the side of a wall. Screaming civilians fled in every direction from the site.

Over the already buzzy intercom came the insect's voice. "Planting viruses like you said, boss!"

"The viruses are for the Terra Zord. What good will it do to infect technology in that building?"

"Uh, not much, but it'll make things more fun," the bug replied.

"Stop. You are there to attack the Terra Zord, nothing more," Korassil said flatly. "Do not waste your time and weapons causing pointless mayhem or you will be punished."

"Aw, you're no fun," Malwaria complained, jerking free of the building.

"Focus, insect, your real opponent is coming," Korassil retorted.

Sure enough, out of the mountains charged a massive blue metal cougar. Landing on the far side of the plant, it roared at Malwaria. The bug rubbed her front legs together, letting out an electric-sounding chuckle, and sprang at the Zord. It swerved, avoiding the creature's stabbing mouthparts, and lashed out, raking Malwaria's wing with its claws.

Flapping unevenly, Malwaria took off, and the Zord crashed into the power plant. It collapsed like a cheap movie set, exploding as it went down. Leaning in to see better, Korassil glimpsed little black silhouettes of civilians panicking in the blaze. He shook his head, irritated at the waste. As the view swung towards the fighting giants, however, he glimpsed something flash amid the flames.

"Nanocam 392, give me a better look at that plant," he ordered.

The screen swung down and inwards. Civilians crowded away from the building, through a newly-formed ring of police cars, ambulances and fire engines. A few brave fools ran towards the inferno, while most just tried to prevent the fire from spreading. Thick smoke filled the air, briefly blinding the nanocam.

However, as the surveillance bug passed through the cloud, Korassil saw what he was looking for. Out of the fire sprang a silvery Ranger, holding a limp body over his shoulder. He landed on a buckling roof, resting for a split second, and then leaped to the ground, where he passed the body to a fireman. Turning, he sprang back into the burning building.

"Intriguing," Korassil said. "Nanocam 392, try to identify the newcomer and monitor his actions. Nanocams 393 through 5, follow the Zord battle."

He switched to a different screen, this one showing the fight. Even with a damaged wing, Malwaria flew circles around the Cougarzord. She kept darting in, stabbing at it, but she only managed to rake the Zord's hull. She was tiring Nico out; once he slowed down, she'd be able to inject her viruses into the Cougarzord and take it over.

"Hold still, you bloodsucker!" Nico roared, rearing the Zord up on its hind legs and clawing at Malwaria.

Its jaw clamped down on one of the insect's lower legs, ripping it off, and she shrieked. Landing on all four paws with a boom, the Cougarzord roared again. Zipping down, Malwaria seized it by the jaws and stabbed her long mouthparts down its throat, buzzing furiously. The Zord tried to bite down on her head, but she held its mouth open with all of her remaining legs. Shaking its head, the Cougarzord reared and slammed her to the ground. The earth split with a rumble, making several nearby buildings quake.

Writhing, the mangled Malwaria tried to take off again, but her wings had been too badly crushed. The Cougarzord hauled back and sprang, flattening the insect to the ground. One bite through her throat, and it was all over. Green goop sprayed out of the monster as she exploded.

Korassil shook his head. Oh well. He'd hoped Malwaria could win outright, but at least she'd implanted the virus in the Cougarzord. From the school files, Nico was no technical expert; he wouldn't even notice until it was too late. Sure enough, the Blue Ranger leaped out of his Zord, dismissing it to its hiding place. A few nanocams pursued it, and Korassil turned his attention back to the new Ranger.

***Castle Ridge, 11: 23 am***

Nico was just heading home when the Silver Ranger stepped into his path, arms folded. The center of his suit's chest had a kanji symbol Nico didn't recognize, and his suit was accented with black. He wore a katana strapped across his back.

"Where are you going?" The other man demanded.

When Nico moved to go around him, the Silver Ranger stepped in his way. Nico caught his breath. "None of your business."

"These people need help," the stranger said, jerking his head towards the fire.

Nico glanced toward it; the panic had died down, but the building still burned away merrily. Coal had a tendency to do that. The firemen shouted at each other, and a crowd of onlookers gathered around the edges of their barrier.

"They seem to have it under control," he said.

"Help." From the stranger's tone, it was no request.

Nico drew himself up, just about ready to grab a weapon. Most likely his Mom had already realized he was gone; if he hurried, he could convince her she just hadn't looked hard enough. "Look, I don't know who you are or where you come from, but I don't see why I should follow your orders. I didn't see _you_ fighting the giant monster."

"Why would you fight off the monster if you don't want to help these people?" The Silver Ranger snapped. A shriek rang out from the building, and without another word, he zipped away.

Nico hesitated. He'd taken care of the monster, and he was sore and tired. He'd done his part, plus his Mom would realize something was up if he vanished. Glancing towards the crowd, Nico started recognizing faces. Those guys he'd fought behind the movie theater, the kid who'd picked on him in middle school, a couple of snobby rich brats . . .

Throwing up his hands, Nico ran to the fire. The crowd parted for him, and he charged into what was left of the building, right past the firemen. Pounding down the stairs, he began hauling aside chunks of wall. As he hauled out a few unconscious workers, he got to work on his cover story. He dragged them just outside, where the firemen could get them, and went back for more. It felt unreal, almost like a video game, but hotter.

Sweat glued Nico's hair to his scalp and face under his helmet. He got scorched a couple of times, even through his suit. Unable to tell in the rush whether or not the bodies were breathing, he settled for dragging everyone out. At least their families could identify the corpses. The Silver Ranger worked much faster, zipping around in ninja bursts.

At last, the other Ranger paused, and waved something that looked like a cell phone or small computer around. "That's the last of them!" He yelled, pointing to a man trapped under several massive ceiling beams with the machine.

"Got it!" Nico shouted back. Transforming his body into stone, he ran over and began throwing the beams aside. Soon, he'd uncovered the worker—to his surprise, he recognized the guy. He was one of the foremen; Nico's Mom had dated him a couple of times. Above him, the ceiling started to crumble, and Nico threw himself over the foreman to shield him. He grunted as concrete broke against his back.

As the debris stopped falling, Nico stood up and raised his morpher arm. "Power down!"

It was like opening an oven door. He staggered and doubled over, coughing in the haze of smoke. Crouching, Nico began dragging the unconscious man out. As he went, the man groaned a little, to his relief. His eyes watered, and he couldn't see anything but hazy firelight. Which way was out?

Nico planted a foot squarely on a bed of hot embers, and swore in pain as his shoe caught on fire. Stomping the flames out, he went faster, hacking uncontrollably, tears streaming down his face. It felt like his throat was coated in soot. Bits of fire fell like snowflakes, burning through his clothes and making his skin sting. A gust of winter air against his back told him he was going the right way, and soon Nico stumbled out into the open.

Firemen and paramedics swarmed around them, and Nico let them drag him away. Someone gave him an oxygen mask, and someone else an oversized coat. Shutting his eyes, he just focused on breathing. There, he'd done it. Hope that Silver Ranger was happy.

Eventually, Nico recognized his Mom's voice shouting shrilly somewhere nearby. Bracing himself, he looked up, just as she spotted him. Pushing through the crowd, she seized him by the shoulders and shook him.

"I told you to go to the basement! What were you thinking? You could have been killed!"

Nico couldn't even hear it. Glancing past her, he wondered where that Silver Ranger had gone. He recognized most of the faces in the crowd, but it was pretty thick, and that guy was fast. On the other hand, his Mom's shaking was starting to make him feel sick, and her yelling wasn't doing wonders for his headache either. He decided to try an old trick. With a weary groan, he went limp, slumping forward against her. Sure enough, she stopped shouting and hugged him. Her voice softened.

Outside the crowd, on the edge of the woods, the Silver Ranger paused. His suit was blackened in places with soot and coal dust. He retracted his smoke-blackened visor, revealing a pair of blue eyes in a light-skinned face. A glance around proved that nobody had seen him. Quickly, he zipped back up the mountain slope, disappearing among the trees.

***Trivia***

Originally the Silver Ranger was supposed to join the trio in Palencia, but I realized there was only so much Nico could do alone, and technically he is the closest to the newcomer's original location.


	13. Chapter 13: Word on the Street

Disclaimer: I don't own anything previously disclaimed, or the newly-appearing OC.

_Last time we saw the Earthlight Rangers: Reaching the home of their former Sensei's brother__, the Rangers were nearly captured by Dr. Mesmer, but Wyatt managed to break his hypnotic spell, and they destroyed the monster._

***February 7th, Palencia, Belize, 7:30 pm***

Micky darted down a narrow alley, and flipped open the wallet he'd just grabbed. The skinny fifteen-year-old grinned, digging out all the loose cash in the thing. The ID and credit cards could go to Gonzales, and Lupe'd pay for a nice wallet like this. Micky loved tourists. Quickly, he pulled out the brick in the side of the crumbling building and hid the wallet and cards in the gap.

Micky's stomach growled, and he counted the money. He sighed. Just a few dollars short of a decent supper. He wadded up the crisp new bills and tucked them into the pocket of his ragged grey shorts, along with the change. Then he slipped out the other side of the alley, and began casually looking around for another target.

A gorgeous sunset streaked the sky, and tourists strolled up and down the streets of old Palencia. Micky kept his head down, whistling a little. He glanced at passing clusters of people out from under the bill of his red baseball cap, mentally listing them off as good or bad targets. He was getting closer to the docks where the cruise ships stopped, so the good targets got thicker—but Micky kept getting suspicious looks, so he kept his hands to himself.

There was a little tamales stand around the corner. Micky didn't even consider stealing from it: last time he'd gotten a beating with a wooden spoon and a fierce tongue lashing. The old lady running it was surprisingly strong. As Micky decided to go collect all of today's finds, he noticed a cluster of teenagers buying several tamales. A calculating smile crossed his face, and he ambled towards them as they headed back towards the waterfront.

"You're sure this is the right place?" One of the boys, small and with a raggedy beard, asked in English.

"Positive," the one girl replied. "Our contact should be here any minute."

"Why does the security have to be so tight?" The last teen, a fair-haired boy, asked. "Don't they know you?"

"After what's just happened to the school, I don't blame them."

They reached a bench on the waterfront and sat down. As the older girl started trying to coax the toddler into eating something, Micky crept up to the bench. A few quick snatches and he was juggling four hot tamales. Scrambling back to a safe corner behind a dumpster, Micky ate them as quickly as he could. He burned his tongue, but didn't even care.

Biting into the last of the tamales, Micky felt something crinkle between his teeth. Confused, he pulled it out and looked at the tamale. A little wad of plastic-wrapped paper stuck out of it, smeary with sauce. That was weird. Pulling it out, he tucked it into his pocket and scarfed down the rest of the stolen food.

As Micky licked brownish sauce off his fingers, he heard angry voices. Looking around, he saw the bearded kid was arguing with the other two. Micky chuckled a little, but then the girl looked up and locked eyes with him. Micky froze, fingers still in his mouth. The girl sprang up, and as she did, Micky snapped back into action. He bolted, hearing shouts and running footsteps behind him.

After a lot of running, sliding down alleys so narrow Micky had to turn sideways, and ducking into crowds, Micky decided he'd lost them. With a sigh of relief, he straightened his cap, and decided to call it a day. As he stood, he thought he glimpsed a pink flutter out of the corner of his eye, but when he turned to look, he saw nothing.

It didn't take long for Micky to loop through the city and collect his stolen goods. He knew exactly where everything was, and unfortunately, today there were only three worthwhile finds. Stuffing them into his pockets, Micky decided it was late enough to risk going home. When he thought he heard footsteps, Micky laughed it off, telling himself he was getting paranoid.

Micky's house sat right on the water, a sagging, moldy building that creaked when the wind blew too strongly. The city lights blotted out the stars, casting yellow shadows on the inky harbor water, but barely penetrating the skinny streets. Winding his way up the uneven road, Micky listened for voices. A dog pack was barking somewhere, and he shivered a little and sped up. Someone's baby was crying, and elsewhere a couple was having a fierce argument in Spanish. His house, though, was dark and silent, to Micky's relief.

The climb up the wooden siding took almost no time at all, even though Micky froze at each creak. Reaching the attic window, he slithered inside. There, he drew out the stolen wallets and money, and laid them out on a moth-eaten quilt. The wallets went in the dresser drawer, the loose change inside an old coin purse—it was starting to burst at the seams now—and the bills behind the backing of a broken armchair.

Micky froze at the first few thumps he heard, but when nothing came of them, dismissed it as the house. An unmistakable thud boomed up the stairs, and the window rattled shut. Springing to his feet, Micky began pulling the window back open. Footsteps tramped up the stairs as he forced the rusty thing open and jumped out. His fingers slipped on the warped wood, and he fell to the street. A sharp pain shot up his ankle as he landed, and Micky cried out.

As he scrambled to his feet and stumbled, the front door of the house slammed open. Micky tried to run, but his ankle gave out immediately. As he scrambled away, a slurred, angry shout rang out. A huge hand came down on the back of his neck, yanking Micky around.

"Where have you been?" The tall, balding man roared in Micky's face, blasting him with hot beer-soured breath.

"No, Dad, please, I'm sorry—" Micky begged, but a fist slammed into his face, and he fell back. He scraped his hands catching himself on the rocky street. He felt blood running down the back of his throat from his nose, and threw up his arms to shield himself. The next blow slammed into his stomach, knocking all the wind out of him.

Micky's dad yelled something at him, but Micky couldn't tell what—aside from a string of profanities. He curled up, but his Dad just slammed a boot into his back, flattening him against the road. Sobbing, Micky shielded his head with his arms and hoped his father was drunk enough to get tired quickly this time. A kick to the gut made him cough convulsively.

Then the shouting stopped abruptly. Micky lowered one arm, and stared. A woman clad in pink spandex and what looked like a motorcycle helmet held his father's upraised wrist. A white flame emblem was emblazoned on her chest, and a katana was strapped to her hip. The drunk man just stared at her in amazement.

When she spoke, her voice trembled with anger. "I'd leave him alone if I were you."

Micky's father's face darkened. "Hands off, he's mine and I can do whatever I want to him."

"If you lay so much as a finger on him again you'll have me to answer to. Got it?"

The stranger gave Micky's father a shove towards the house, and he fled. Drunk or not, he knew this wasn't someone to mess with. Micky recoiled as the stranger crouched beside him.

This time, she spoke gently. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Micky said, coughing and touching the blood pouring out of his nose. Then the stranger tried to help him up, and he remembered his ankle with a yelp. "Ow! No!"

The stranger started feeling his ankle. Micky, seeing that she felt sorry for him, made no attempt to hide the little whimpers of pain as she prodded his injuries.

"You stole something earlier today," she said, as she worked. Micky almost laughed. She'd have to be a little more specific. Realizing he might not want to admit that, he kept his mouth shut. "Food. Did you find anything odd in it?"

"What if I did? Why's it matter?" Micky retorted.

"It's important. If you kept it, you could be in danger," she said.

Micky drew himself up. "You threatening me?"

"No, I'm not the one you need to worry about. Please," she held out her hand, "Give it to me."

Micky folded his arms. "What's in it for me?"

The stranger looked up at him, the oily street light reflecting off her black visor. She didn't say anything for a long minute. Micky didn't flinch—though he realized if she really wanted to take the thing away from him, she probably could.

"Five hundred dollars."

"Six." She started, and Micky added, "If I don't tell you where it is, you'll never be able to find it."

"Fine. Six hundred." She held out her hand.

"Money first," Micky snapped, holding out his own.

She sighed. "I don't have pockets in this, and I don't have that much with me anyway. Your ankle's broken. I'll take you to the emergency room and bring the money after I drop you off, okay?"

"Okay." Good, he'd probably be able to con a nurse into giving him somewhere to stay after he got better—for a little while, anyway.

The stranger scooped him up in her arms, showing that she was stronger than she looked, and in a burst of flashing lights and wind, they stood in front of a hospital. Micky rested his head against her shoulder and shut his eyes.

***February 8th, Kai House, Belize, 8:30 am***

The dining room door opened, and Jess walked inside, holding up the plastic-wrapped message triumphantly. Wyatt whooped through a mouthful of sausage, and Mr. Kai looked relieved.

"What took you so long?" Rat asked.

"Our greedy little friend wanted to make sure I wasn't giving him counterfeits," Jess replied, sitting down beside Wyatt. He passed her a plate of sausages, and she began serving herself. "But, we have our secret message, and I think a good underground contact in case we need one. I'm going to keep an eye on him anyway, just in case."

"That's not all," Mr. Kai said, holding up a newspaper.

Rat snatched it out of his hands and looked it over, quickly handing it to Wyatt and Jess. The headline declared "Power Rangers in Palencia?" Below it was a black-and-white photo of Jess in front of the Emergency Room, morphed.

"Yeah, some reporters had showed up by the time I got back," Jess said, setting the paper down. "Hopefully people will start getting ready for monster attacks—"

"Can you please open the message?" Wyatt interrupted.

"Right." Jess peeled off the plastic wrap, and unrolled the scrap of paper. Clearing her throat, she read, "Earthlight—your Zords are ready. Come to 115 Tito Street tonight at 8:00."

"Finally!" Wyatt threw up his arms, accidentally knocking over his glass of orange juice.

Rat quickly righted it. "How do we know that kid didn't swap out the message?"

"This was typed." Jess passed him the message. "I saw where he lives; trust me, even if he knows how, he doesn't have anything to type with."

"So maybe he's got friends in low places."

"Fine, we'll be careful," Jess said. "You don't have to come if you don't want to."

"Are you kidding? Nobody else is ever going to touch my Zord."

"You have some serious trust issues, Rat," Jess said, rolling the message up again.

"That's because all anybody ever does is try to take advantage of me!"

***Xumara's Ship, Palencia Airspace, 8:47 am***

Standing in front of her console, Xumara smiled as Jess and Rat argued. She only had a few views of the dining room, having hidden most of the nanocams in more important rooms of the mansion, but she'd heard enough.

"115 Tito Street," she said. "This should be entertaining. I think it's time to let Zart out to play again."

***Trivia***

Most of this chapter (everything with Micky) was written months ago, as part of a school assignment.


	14. Chapter 14: The Rescue Mission

Disclaimer: I do not own the show or the submitted OCs.

_Last time we saw the Ethereal Rangers: Tauza set about repairing the captured Ethereal Zords, secretly monitored by the Rangers. After one such spying trip, Susana retreated to a lake for some time to think, only to get into a fight with Easton over her wandering off alone and his irrational fear of lakes. After he left, Susana accidentally scratched her leg so it bled, and decided to go back to the cave the trio were staying in. A monster, Bl00dhound, tracked her back to the cave, but she and Kerri were able to destroy it. After the fight, the girls found Easton's morpher abandoned in the snow: he'd already been captured._

***February 8th, Tauza's Ship, Airspace Above the Himalayas, 5:30 am***

Easton heard footsteps, and looked up. In the cell doorway stood Reggie, looking him up and down. Easton's hands were chained up over his head to the wall, at just the right height so he couldn't sit down, just kneel or stand. At the moment, his feet hurt more, so he'd chosen kneeling on one knee.

"Good morning," Reggie said, striding into the cell. He grinned. Easton said nothing. Stopping beside him, Reggie sat down. "Uncomfortable, isn't it?"

"What do you want?" Easton asked, voice and expression flat.

"To talk. About your two friends—Susana and Kerri, I believe?"

Easton said nothing. Rolling his eyes, Reggie reached over, grabbed Easton's jaw, and yanked his head back. The chain jingled with the movement. The Terra Ninja's brown eyes were hard, and the grin looked more like a grimace.

"Vat I vant to know is vat these girls are like."

Easton frowned a little, clearly confused. Reggie's expression changed to a scornful smirk. Releasing Easton's chin, he sat back, leaning against the wall.

"Since your escape, I have studied ze files on all of you. I know your fighting styles, your powers, your skills, your backgrounds, every misdemeanor and accomplishment—but zis is not you. Zis does not tell me vat you vill do under great pressure, as you have all been zese last few days. Zis does not tell me how to understand you, to predict your actions. So tell me about Susana and Kerri."

Easton said nothing for a long minute, brow furrowed. Abruptly, he spat a large glob of saliva at Reggie, hitting him square between the eyes. Reggie didn't even flinch, just quirked an eyebrow as it slid down the side of his nose.

"Really? You are older than I am; zis is embarrassing."

"I have more," Easton offered, switching to his other knee. Scowling, Reggie smacked Easton's leg aside so he fell forward, the chains jerking his wrists up and back. It drew a grunt from him, but he pushed himself upright again, glaring at Reggie. "And I'm not afraid to use it."

"I see," Reggie said, rising to his feet. With a gesture, he summoned his Terra Bo, letting one end thunk on the floor. Easton didn't even look at it: he kept his gaze trained on Reggie. The evil Ranger's smile widened. "I think I vill enjoy zis."

***Former Ethereal Academy, 9:20 am***

"I thought _you_ had a plan!" Susana hissed, glaring sideways at the girl crouching beside her. She couldn't really see Kerri's face under the helmet, but she didn't seem bothered. Even that sick, weak feeling seemed to have faded; at least, she'd stopped complaining about it. The two morphed whenever they left their hideout now despite Kerri's problem, just in case.

"Me? You and Easton are the smart ones," Kerri replied. "But seriously, do you think they're done with the Zords? I can't hear any building noises."

Susana peeked up over the rock. Sure enough, the crater stood silent before them. A few Snipers patrolled the area, but none seemed to be working on the Zords—they hadn't even shoveled any of last night's snow off them.

"Yeah, looks like they're all done," she said, sliding back down. "But that doesn't tell us how to get to them, or even where Easton is."

"We could make a break for it, jump in and attack."

"Yeah, and maybe blow up Easton or get taken down by that evil Zord. Again," Susana replied, rolling her eyes.

Kerri cocked her head to one side. "Can you hear that?"

"What?"

Kerri held up a finger, shushing her. After a moment, she said, "Footsteps. Someone's running."

A burst of Sniper fire interrupted her. Susana looked again, and saw the foot soldiers converging on a space between the Goldfishzord and Pandazord. Focusing, she tried to feel for the emotions of whoever they were chasing. All she could distinguish was Kerri's curiosity; everything else blurred together into a mess of confusion and fear.

Out through the gap shot a teenager. Struggling in the shin-deep snow outside the crater, he tripped and fell flat. Snipers surrounded him as he struggled upright.

"What's going on? All I can see are blurs," Kerri said.

"Snipers are chasing down a guy," Susana said. "It doesn't look like Easton."

"Should we help him?"

"We don't even know who he is."

The foot soldiers cocked their guns in a series of clicks. Panting, the teen drew himself up.

"If you're not going to help him, I will, morphing trouble or not," Kerri said. There was no reply. She looked around at Susana—but the Sapphire Ranger wasn't there anymore. "Susana?"

A volley of shuriken struck the Snipers, sparking and making them stagger. Before they could recover, a blue blur struck the line from the side, knocking several flat. Susana whirled her Projection Blade and sliced through an oncoming Sniper at the waist: it collapsed in two smoking pieces.

"Okay," Kerri said, and sprang over the rock. Reaching the scene, she quickly realized there was nobody for her to really fight. Spinning, she punched out one Sniper just starting to recover from a shuriken attack. Its head exploded, showering bits of metal everywhere. With a shrug, she grabbed the teenager and ninja-streaked away.

Susana decapitated the last of the Snipers, backed up, and looked around. Her Projection Blade buzzed electrically. She didn't see any more Snipers coming, but decided not to wait and take her chances. Quickly, she ninja-streaked after her fellows.

A mile or so down the hill, Kerri had already helped the stranger sit up, and he was catching his breath. Soot and bruises dotted his body, some showing through the rips in his clothes.

"Who are you?" Susana asked.

The stranger caught his breath. "Reggie Anvil, Black Terra Ranger."

Susana drew her Projection Blade again in a quick gesture, swinging the blade up to his throat. "You're the guy who's been attacking us!"

"Vait!" He threw up his hands. "Vait, please. You have every right to kill me, but please, let me explain first."

Susana hesitated. Kerri, who still had a hand on his shoulder, looked from one to the other.

"They did try to kill him," she pointed out.

"Fine," Susana said, lowering the sword. "Talk fast."

"My Academy vas attacked a veek ago, like yours, but ve surrendered to avoid bloodshed. Ze space ninjas—"

"The what?" Susana interrupted, staring incredulously at him.

"Space ninjas. Zose are ze attackers. Zey've been capturing Ninja Academies across ze globe. Zey demanded I vork for zem. At first, I refused. Zen zey . . ." he seemed to be having trouble getting the words out. Drawing in a breath, he said in a rush, "Zey had also captured someone I cared about very much. Zey threatened to hurt her if I rejected zeir offer. I had no choice."

"So why'd you turn on them?" Kerri asked.

A pained expression crossed Reggie's face. "After ze battle vith ze three of you, zey vere furious I had let you escape. Zey punished her for it—but zey vent too far. Now I have no reason to continue serving zem. I ran. I vould be dead if not for you."

He looked up at the two, waiting for their response. Silently, Susana turned away and started pacing. Kerri sighed, and gave his shoulder a squeeze.

"I'm so sorry," she said quietly.

Finally, Susana faced them again, and sent the Projection Blade back into storage. Reggie's shoulders slumped in relief. Coming closer, the Sapphire Ranger crouched down at his eye level.

"You've been inside their base?"

"I have."

"Can you get us inside?"

Reggie drew back, eyes wide with alarm. "Go back? Zey vill—"

"They've captured one of our team," Susana interrupted. "We want him back. You want to prove you're on our side? Help us save him."

Reggie looked from one to the other. Slowly, he nodded. "All right. But first ve vill need a plan."

***10:30 am***

A few Snipers hid behind ridges and in the alleys between Zords, keeping watch on the hills. The landscape had been silent and peaceful since the escape of the Rangers. Out on a nearby slope, snow suddenly fountained up with a bang like a firecracker. A few Snipers noticed, and then a few more as another snow flume erupted on the other side of the crater. And another behind a large boulder. And yet another near the first.

The foot soldiers abandoned their posts and ran to investigate as small explosives went off all around them. With the coast clear, a few blurs ninja-streaked down into the middle of the construction site.

"Zis vay," Reggie hissed, leading the two girls towards the center of the crater. "I estimate ze flares vill run out in ten minutes. Ze transporter should be easy to activate."

After a few seconds, they rounded the corner and reached a round metal platform, with a blue glassy center. Reggie tapped a few commands into the control panel sticking up from one side, and it began to hum. The two female Rangers climbed onto the glass, which vibrated beneath their feet, and Reggie joined them.

In a burst of blue-green light, the trio vanished off the platform, materializing on an identical one inside a dark room—in the middle of a ring of Snipers. Before either female Ranger could react, Reggie darted between the Snipers and faced them, laughing.

"What?" Kerri exclaimed, looking this way and that.

"I should have known," Susana muttered.

"Come now, vasn't I convincing?" Reggie said. "I knew you vould fall for a good zob ztory. Never mind; zis is no time for zmall talk. Hand over your morphers, or I'll take zem off your cold, dead bodies."

Susana didn't move. At Reggie's nod, the Snipers cocked their rifles in a staccato of clicks.

"Any idea on where Easton is?" Kerri asked. "I can't hear him."

"A couple of rooms down, I think—he's the only one having any unselfish emotions," Susana replied.

At once, both girls ducked and delivered spin-kicks. The Snipers fired, but only a few shots hit the pair. Somersaulting between two, Susana drew her Projection Blade, and whirled to catch several laser shots on the glowing blade.

"Can I have some of your shuriken? My weapons aren't working," Kerri called, from where she'd grabbed a Sniper and was using it as a human shield. Swinging it out to arm's length, she slammed it bodily into one of the others, bowling it over.

"Sure. We should get that fixed," Susana replied. "Ethereal Shuriken!"

She hurled four or five of the metal stars at Kerri, taking out several Snipers surrounding her. The Diamond Ranger dove to retrieve them, and two more foot soldiers slammed into each other over her head. Springing up, she knocked them aside.

"Terra Storm, Ranger Form!" Reggie yelled.

_Reggie crouches in a dark cave, in full ninja uniform. He somersaults and slams both feet into the floor, splintering the gleaming metal floor. His uniform splinters, falling away to expose his Ranger suit. The flying fragments of metal form a helmet around his head, and he strikes a fighting pose._

"Metal Suruchin!"

A length of silvery rope materialized in his hands, either end weighted down with a black metal ball the size of his fist. Whirling one, he advanced on Susana. She rose, attacking with an overhand swing. The cord wrapped around her sword hand, and he yanked it down, throwing Susana off-balance. The other ball shot towards her head—but she threw up an arm in time to block it.

Dragging her in close, Reggie kicked Susana in the solar plexus, and she doubled over. The Sapphire Ranger grasped the rope and pulled back, rolling sideways to take Reggie over with her. Shaking the cords off, she slashed him across the back, and he fell, suit sparking.

"Kerri, find Easton and get back here!" She yelled. "He's down the hall to your left—pretty sure he's the only guy who's breathing outside this room for yards!"

"Right!" She bulled through a row of Snipers and bolted.

At that point, the silvery rope wrapped around Susana's throat. She tried to grab it, but it yanked tight, trapping her fingers against her throat. Unable to loosen it with that weak grip, she choked. Swinging her Projection Blade back, she caught his shoulder, but he twisted aside, slamming her sword arm into a nearby pillar. The sword dropped out of her hands, energy blade sparking as it hit the floor.

"Nice try," Reggie hissed in her ear, "But you're just a beginner. I'm ze best. You never had a chance."

Susana dropped to her knees, clawing feebly at the cord. Laughing, Reggie jerked it tighter. Abruptly, the Sapphire Ranger stopped resisting, and fell back against him. They both fell over, and Susana twisted around, tearing the rope off and slamming an elbow into Reggie's solar plexus.

Into the room darted Kerri and Easton, the latter morphed and wielding a spiky mace. As a new squadron of Snipers ran in the opposite doorway, Easton raised a hand and threw a ball of energy at them. They fell like dominoes.

"Come on!" Kerri dragged Susana away from Reggie and up to the platform. Shoving her on it with Easton, she ran to the panel and punched a few buttons.

"You fools! You don't know how to use—" Reggie began, flipping himself upright.

"Shut up!" Kerri called back, not even sounding annoyed. She hit another sequence of buttons, and the platform started to glow. Hurling herself onto it, she and the other two teleported away before the Snipers even started shooting.

Scrambling off the other platform, Susana caught Kerri by the elbow. "How did you do that?"

"All the buttons make different noises. I noticed the pattern when Reggie typed it in. I thought it might be backwards, but turns out you do the same one to get back down," Kerri replied. "Cool, huh?"

"Definitely," Easton said, and threw another energy blast at the platform. It exploded, and the trio ducked as debris flew everywhere. "To the Zords!"

Overhead, Tauza's ship dropped through the atmosphere, and one by one, the Zords hummed to life. The space ninjas had done a fine job; all three Zords ran like clockwork, as if they'd never been damaged.

"Everyone follow me, I know where we can hide until they lose track of us," Easton said, from the cockpit of the Goldfishzord.

"No arguments here," Kerri replied.

"Seconded."

With a nightmarish shriek, the Screech Owlzord dropped out of the sky—only to be met by a volley of lasers from all three Zords. It flapped and wobbled under the assault, long enough for all three Zords to get a head start.

Leaping out of the snow, the Goldfishzord sprayed snow into the Screech Owlzord's face, and then slapped it a few times with its tail for good measure. Blinded, the evil Zord had to land. By the time the space ninja ship dropped out of the sky, the three Zords had vanished as if by magic. The evil Zord let out a single, piercing screech.

***Trivia***

In an attempt to rescue the Sentai Gold, the Diamond and Sapphire ninjas were also captured, and they took the opportunity to get past a few grievances before escaping.


	15. Chapter 15: Ranger Assassin

Disclaimer: Don't own Power Rangers or the submitted OCs. Or "You Give Love a Bad Name," either.

_Last time we saw the Season Rangers: After the Rangers recaptured their Megazord, the Thinker decided to create his own Ranger using the captured White Winter morpher. However, the fight he'd set up was crashed by Anya Barnes, an expelled student who'd been committed to an asylum for the criminally insane as a sociopath. Defeating the other combatants, she took the morpher and fled, though a few of the Spider Drones managed to shoot her before being frozen._

***February 8th, McAllistair Mountain, New Zealand, 10:30 am***

"You were right. This is the perfect way to relax," Sienna said, sitting down on a mossy log with a thump. Pulling a water bottle out of the pouch on her backpack, she took a long drink, tilting her head far back. A few reddish hairs straggled out of her ponytail, clinging to the back of her neck.

Tyler leaned against a nearby tree, sliding his backpack off his shoulders. He looked out the ridge, towards Scrimshaw spread out below them. From here, it was impossible to tell that a giant robot had rampaged through it just days before. Birds and other animals twittered in the trees around them, and the air still smelled new from a rainfall the night before.

"Be careful what you say, you don't want to jinx it," he said.

Sienna stopped drinking, and wiped her mouth on the back of her arm. Leaning forward, elbows on her thighs, she gave him an incredulous look. "Jinx it? Are you serious?"

"Yeah. I've watched the news, I know how this stuff works for Power Rangers," Tyler replied, rolling a shoulder around. "Monsters love irony."

"Ever thought ours might be different? I mean, don't they usually just go after the US?"

"Eh, maybe. Wouldn't count on it, though, taking over Zords isn't exactly new territory."

"Whatever. Enough about Zord stuff; if we want to get to the fjord before noon we'll have to get moving," Sienna said, rising and dusting herself off.

Tyler stood, and shouldered his backpack again. "Lead the way," he said.

Grinning, Sienna moved ahead, and Tyler followed her up the narrow dirt trail. Sienna started whistling, stepping in time with the song. Tyler didn't seem to mind; he grinned at her back.

"_You give lo-o-ove, a bad_—ooh, a kiwi!" Sienna pointed just as one of the little brown birds skittered across the path. "Those things are so cute."

"Is that why you picked it? I mean, it's the Summer Ninja animal," Tyler said.

"Nah, that was a bonus. Sensei O'Hara recommended I go to the Summer Ninjas, thought it'd suit me," Sienna replied, rounding a large boulder.

"How did you end up in the school?" Tyler asked. He reached forward to push an overhanging branch out of the way, earning a smile from Sienna.

"One of the other girls, a couple of foster homes back. I caught her practicing her powers in the backyard, and when she acted cagey, I followed her to the school."

"You're kidding."

Sienna ducked under an overhanging log in one smooth motion. "Nope! Sensei O'Hara said I had spunk or something and invited me to join, and I thought, 'why not?'" She waited for him to follow. "How about you? How'd you end up in the school?"

Tyler didn't make eye contact. "Nothing that exciting."

"Come on, tell me, I won't make fun of you," Sienna said, walking backwards.

"You're going to trip if you keep that up," Tyler warned her.

Stumbling a little over a rock, Sienna kept going, facing Tyler. "Spill and I'll turn around." He just sighed and shook his head. "Come one, you're just making me want to know more!"

***Styles Fjord, 10:53 am***

Dean materialized on a rock ledge, overlooking the rushing white water. He'd changed out his Terra Ninja uniform for green-grey-brown camouflage, and he blended in almost perfectly with the forest. Glancing around, he climbed along the cliffside until he found a good ledge, directly beneath a twisted sapling.

Crouching, he unstrapped a long, black metal tube from his back, and set it on the ground. A few silvery metal darts gleamed in their settings around the tube, and more clinked on his belt. Grabbing two, Dean sat down and pulled a small vial out of a belt pouch, labeled Batra. Unscrewing the cap, he dipped both darts in the venom, let them dry for a second, and then loaded them into his gun.

Lying down on his stomach, Dean set the blowgun aside, and pulling out a pair of binoculars, looked around the fjord. The only living things around were animals. Dean focused on slowing down his breathing, keeping alert for any movement, especially from the trail a few yards away.

***McAllistair Mountain, 10:59 am***

"Okay, okay, fine!" Tyler threw up his hands.

Happily, Sienna turned around and skipped ahead, glancing back occasionally as the Orange Ranger followed. She'd bonked her head on a couple of low-hanging branches, but didn't seem bothered.

He rolled his eyes and sighed. "I was trying to get into a normal martial arts class, but I couldn't find any good ones until one kid recommended I try this one. Happy?"

"Any good ones? There are plenty of great non-superpowered schools around Scrimshaw," Sienna retorted. She gave him a studying look. "What were you looking for?"

Tyler's smile faded, and he looked down at the leaf-strewn ground. Noticing the change, Sienna slowed to a halt.

"You know I'm really from Australia," he began, fiddling with one strap of his backpack.

Sienna nodded. "Yeah, the accent sort of gave it away."

"About . . . I guess it's been five months now, my family got caught in a wildfire." Sienna stopped up short, and Tyler quickly added, "They all survived, but they've been in the hospital since, recovering. I guess, I wanted to learn how to stop anything like that from ever happening again."

"Oh. I'm sorry," Sienna said, putting a hand on Tyler's shoulder. "I shouldn't have brought it up."

Tyler shrugged. "It's no big deal."

"Are they doing okay?"

Digging a toe into the loam, Tyler still didn't look at her. "Yeah. We've been writing each other pretty steadily. I think my little brother's about ready to get out of the hospital."

"That's great! Do you think he'll come up here with you?"

"Probably. Hey, isn't that the fjord?" Tyler pointed, and Sienna swung around.

"Yeah! Come on!" Sienna raced down the trail, and Tyler followed on her heels.

The two ran out on a rocky outcropping, and stopped. The fjord lay below them, sparkling blue-white through the trees. Faintly, they could hear the rumble of the water far below. Sienna walked further out, dropping her backpack on the mossy rocks, and whooped. Her voice echoed around the valley, startling a flock of birds so they took off.

"This is . . . wow," Tyler said at last, coming up beside her.

Sienna bounced on her toes, grinning. "I love it here."

However, as Tyler turned a full circle to look at it all, he caught a flicker of movement on a ledge. Wondering if it was an animal, Tyler looked more closely. All he could see was a dark blur on the rocks.

It couldn't be an animal. Eyes widening, Tyler sprang back, seized Sienna and swung her behind a tree. He was just in time: with a zip-thunk, a metal dart buried itself in the ground where she'd been standing. A second followed barely a second later, hitting the tree they'd ducked behind.

"What's hap—morph?" Sienna said, looking around at Tyler.

"Morph."

The two grasped their belt buckles. The sniper was already up and running for a better angle.

"Autumn Storm, Ranger Form! Autumn Blasters!"

"Summer Storm, Ranger Form! Sunbeam Daggers!"

The two Rangers sprang back into the open, looking around for their attacker. All the noise and flashing had scared off even more animals; the woods were full of scurrying and squawking. Slowly, the pair circled.

"Did you see who shot at us?" Sienna asked, twirling one dagger nervously.

"Not really—I think it was a person, not a monster," Tyler said.

"Great, that's all we need, bad guys with faces."

The animals calmed down, and an eerie near-silence fell. Every rustle made the two teenagers jump. Tyler's foot bumped one of the darts with a clink, and he flinched. Pausing, he looked more closely at them.

From below, a volley of darts peppered the two, making their suits spark. They staggered back as their attacker backflipped onto the ledge—and stared. It was a Red Ranger, holding a red-striped black blowgun. Before they could recover, he raised the gun and fired again. Tyler leaped in front of Sienna, firing back, but the hits threw his aim. Orange lasers scorched the rocks and earth around their attacker.

"How is he even shooting that thing with a helmet on?" Sienna yelled, hurling a dagger over Tyler's shoulder. He dropped to one knee with a grunt, still firing blindly, and the Red Ranger easily ducked the dagger. Shoving Tyler aside, she charged, throwing up a hand. The darts hissed and melted, metal splattering against her suit. "Ow, ow, ow, hot!"

Leaping, she kicked their attacker in the head, following it up with another blow to the chest. He staggered back as she landed, planted her free hand on the ground, and kicked again, hitting his legs. With a yell of pain, he went over the ledge.

Sienna scrambled back to Tyler, catching him by the shoulder. His suit was scored with black marks and even rips, and he was out of breath.

"You okay?" She asked.

He gulped, trying to catch his breath. "Fine." Sienna smacked his shoulder, and he yelped in pain.

"Liar," she said, rising and crossing the ledge again. "Thanks for the human shield bit, though."

"Any time."

As Sienna collected both darts and her dagger, a rumble carried up from the fjord. Looking over the edge, she stared, and sprang back, tucking the darts into her belt.

"He's coming back!" She yelled, running back to Tyler.

Sure enough, the Red Ranger reappeared, riding a steaming geyser of water. It twisted sideways at his gesture, dropping him on the land and splitting around him to blast both Season Rangers with scalding liquid like a fire hose. It flung them both into the trees, hard enough to crack the wood, and kept going, pelting them with rocks, leaves and small branches.

After a full minute, the Red Ranger dropped his arms, and the water stopped. Both Season Rangers crumpled to the now-muddy ground. They were still morphed, but aside from breathing, they didn't move.

A little breathless, the Red Ranger sloshed through the puddles, and nudged Tyler with a foot. His head lolled limply. Collecting his dropped Autumn Blasters, the Red Ranger managed a shaky laugh.

"Thinker, I've got your Rangers," he said, touching the side of his helmet with one hand. Hearing movement behind him, the Red Ranger turned—just in time to see Sienna lunge at him, daggers raised.

"Solar Slash!" She yelled, and the blades lit up with golden fire. She brought them down in a fiery X across his chest. With a bang, he staggered back, suit blackened. Taking both daggers in one hand, she yanked the Autumn Blasters out of his hands.

Tyler flipped himself upright, swaying a little, and Sienna tossed him his weapons. The Red Ranger aimed a kick at her, feinted and delivered a right hook to the ribs. She doubled over with a grunt.

"Fall Beam!" The Orange Ranger shouted. Two bronze-orange beams fired from the guns, striking the Red Ranger and immobilizing him. In seconds, the blackened fabric of his suit shredded, and his visible wounds grew infected, as if left untreated for weeks, but in fast-forward.

Tyler stopped shooting, and the stranger dropped to his knees, coughing raspily. He demorphed, revealing a dark-skinned young man in now-tattered camouflage. The two Season Rangers closed in on him, and he cast venomous, fever-bright glances towards them.

"Who are you? Where did you come from? Who's the Thinker?" Sienna demanded, reaching towards him.

However, before she could grab the stranger, he vanished in a flash. Stopping, she looked around in confusion. This time, nobody else attacked. Slowly, the two Rangers relaxed.

"I think they're done," Tyler said.

"Your attack is cool."

"Thanks. Power down." Tyler grunted a little in pain as he demorphed. He looked okay, but a few visible bruises already bloomed on his arms.

Following suit, Sienna stretched, and squelched back into the trees. Their backpacks had been thrown into the forest by the blast, and both were soaking wet. She dragged them back, and plopped down on the edge of the ledge.

"Now what?" She asked.

"Rest?" Tyler suggested.

Sienna chuckled. "Sounds good. Guess we'll check these out later," she said, pulling out the two darts. Delicately, she wrapped them up in a wet handkerchief and shoved them into a pocket on her backpack.

"Sure, maybe my unc—what's that?" Tyler reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out his morpher. It beeped steadily.

"What's that mean?" Sienna asked.

Tyler looked up at her, his expression serious. "Someone's going after the Zords again."

Sienna backed up, pulling off her backpack and tossing it into the trees. "Oh, for the love of—let's go."

***Trivia***

The opening scene was almost cut, since the results of that ending Zord invasion were going to be the focus of this chapter, but it ended up taking longer than expected, and Dean really wanted a turn to fight.


	16. Chapter 16: The Tigers Come at Night

Disclaimer: Don't own the submitted OCs or the show.

Also, I've made a little switch in chaptering, hence the return to Castle Ridge so soon.

_Last time we saw the Terra Ranger: Nico was forced to spill a little of the truth to his mother to explain his absence, but the conversation was interrupted by the attack of a giant monster, Malwaria. Taking his Zord, Nico fought it and won, though the mosquito managed to inject a white fluid into his Zord before its death. The battle destroyed a nearby coal refinery, and a strange Silver Ranger appeared to help rescue civilians, pressuring Nico into doing the same._

***February 10th, Castle Ridge Public Library, 7:53 pm***

"Shinobi, huh?" Nico said to the computer screen. On it flickered an image of the symbol he'd seen on the Silver Ranger's chest. "So you're a ninja-style ninja. Great, that's a big help. Now I just need to find the Redundancy Ninja Academy. Wait."

He sat back in the swivel chair. Aware of the nearby librarian glaring at him, he turned away a little, but did speak more quietly. It was a very quiet evening, hardly anyone around, but he didn't want to risk attracting any attention.

"Then again, who says you're part of a school?" He said, frowning thoughtfully. "Maybe you're a lone wolf, or someone who got kicked out and made your own morpher. Guess the only way to find out is by asking you." Deleting his history and closing the browser, Nico rose and left the library.

Focusing on brainstorming places he could look for the Silver Ranger, Nico didn't pay attention to where he was going. His phone rang, and he jumped, jostling a taller, fair-haired man as he walked inside.

"Careful!" Nico snapped, pulling out his phone.

"Nico? Where are you?" His mother demanded.

"Just at the library, Mom, relax," he said, pushing through the doors. "You said schoolwork doesn't count for grounding, that's what I was doing."

The stranger glanced back at the departing Nico, shook his head, and turned to the computers. Taking a seat, he began browsing. Local news didn't provide much; everyone was still babbling about the Rangers and the UFOs. Absently, he rested his face on one hand, stroking a small, dark scar along his left cheekbone with a finger.

He paused, and sat up a little. One of the older articles mentioned some kind of Christmas performance, put on by a martial arts academy. Terra Academy? That sounded promising. He searched it, and soon brought up the school website. However, when he clicked on it, all he got was an error message.

Frowning, the man kept searching. From all the reports, Terra Academy was somewhere in the mountains. A few student names were listed in the articles, along with photographs of them performing. Very well; he'd begin his search there. Quickly clearing the browser, he rose and headed out, turning towards the residential district.

***Korassil's Ship, Castle Ridge Airspace, 8:10 pm***

"Computer, end program," Korassil said, turning away from the console. Obediently, the screen died. Pacing, the space ninja clasped his hands behind his back, boots clinking a little on the gleaming black floor.

He'd searched every file on every school, and none matched that Silver Ranger. Hardly any of them even had Silver Rangers. Where had this stranger come from? Before he could finish his musing, the computer chimed. Recognizing the tone, Korassil turned back to the computer console.

Lothor's face appeared on the screen. "Just checking to see if you've gotten rid of that Ranger yet."

"Malwaria's virus should be fully activated by now," Korassil said. "I only have to lure him out once more to take control of his Zord."

Lothor waved a hand. "Promises, promises."

"Sir, there's been a new development," Korassil continued.

"Oh?"

"A new Ranger." Korassil brought up footage from the fight.

Lothor watched in silence for a few minutes. Korassil waited, watching his face for any signs of recognition. It was difficult to tell through the mask.

"I'll get back to you on that," Lothor said, in a thoughtful tone.

Korassil dipped his head in acknowledgement, and Lothor ended the communication. Switching consoles, Korassil hit the intercom.

"Phantasmagoria, it's time."

Over the speakers hissed a sibilant, androgynous voice. "On my way, master."

***Ramirez Home, Castle Ridge, 8:27 pm***

"The principal from your ninja school's coming over tomorrow," Mrs. Ramirez announced, as Nico stumped in the front door.

He froze mid-stomp. "What?"

"I've been talking to some of the other parents, and there have been a lot of strange things going on there recently. Most of the kids who've come home won't talk about it, and they've been acting scared," she said. "I'm not going to let this go. We need an explanation."

"Mom, you can't!" Nico protested.

Folding her arms, his mother glared at him. "What was that?"

Nico hesitated, partway through pulling off his coat. How was he going to explain this one?

Seeing the pause, his mother shook her head. "Don't bother with any excuses: if you're not going to tell me the truth, don't talk."

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Nico muttered, flinging the coat down on the doormat.

Mrs. Ramirez quirked an eyebrow. "Really? A giant mosquito just attacked the city a few days ago. Try me."

Shaking his head, Nico started for his room, but his mother stood up and blocked his path. He sighed.

"Fine. A couple of weeks ago, that school got attacked by the same guys who sent the giant mosquito. I didn't get hazed, I ran away before their monsters could track me down, and they've been chasing me since then, probably so they can finish the job. Happy?"

Mrs. Ramirez said nothing, just stared at him.

"That's not what the other kids said," she said slowly.

Nico shrugged. "I dunno what happened after I ran. Maybe they won, maybe they all got captured, maybe they're under mind control!"

"Mind control?" Now his Mom looked skeptical.

"Giant mosquito, Mom," Nico reminded her.

After a second, she turned and walked away, one hand covering her mouth. Not bothering to wait for a response, Nico headed into his room. He'd been grounded after the giant mosquito incident, so he was going to have to sneak out to find out more about that Silver Ranger, and he couldn't do that until Mom was in bed.

Pulling off his boots, Nico went over the list of possible info sources. Most of the out-of-town traffic went through the train depot or the toll booth on the highway. He knew some of the guys who worked there, he could ask about any striking strangers. They were probably at one of the bars right now. He'd need his fake ID again. Where was it?

As Nico rummaged through a drawer, an eerie moan whipped around the house. Wincing, he told himself to bring a coat; it was getting windy. Finally, he found the fake ID stuffed in the pocket of a faux-leather jacket his Dad had left behind years ago. It still smelled like cigarettes.

The moaning rose again as he bundled together clothes for when he snuck out. Pausing, Nico listened more carefully. Maybe he was being paranoid, but that didn't sound like wind. Cautiously, he moved to the window and looked out.

A ghostly figure flitted past, vanishing around the corner before Nico could get a good look. He glimpsed drifting, tissue-like robes and a twisted face, but nothing else. Instinctively, he thought "monster," but as he grabbed his morpher, he realized it could just be an idiot kid pulling a prank. Better be careful.

Then again, the sudden burst of screaming from down the street probably wasn't a prank. Shaking his head, Nico grabbed his morpher, opened the window, and climbed outside. Hopefully his Mom wouldn't go much further beyond grounding if this kept up.

***Castle Ridge Residential District, 8:51 pm***

Through the middle of the only playground in town strode a massive, ghostly creature, moaning and howling like a banshee. Smaller figures whirled around it like falling leaves, chasing any people or animals that got too close.

Something rumbled in the darkness. The ground trembled, and out of the night rushed the Cougarzord, eyes glowing blue-white. Landing in a crouch, it roared at the monster. Bizarrely, the giant didn't even react.

"I've had just about enough of you creeps!" Nico shouted.

The Cougarzord lunged—but its jaws closed on air. It shot right through the monster, its momentum carrying it into an electrical pole. Wires tangled around it, splitting and sparking as the Zord struggled to get free. Behind it, the giant monster flickered and vanished.

Without warning, the Cougarzord stopped struggling. A faint rumbling noise started inside its works. Bubbling up from inside, white fluid began to drip from its jaws like foam. Malwaria's virus was finally taking effect. Standing up, it roared.

"What the—stop it!" Nico yelled, hitting all the buttons in reach.

The Zord didn't respond, just turned and lumbered towards the nearest house, dragging electrical poles like a broken leash. As Nico kept trying to take control of the Zord, the bubbling noise built up beneath him. He just had time to realize what was happening before the machine ejected him.

Nico flew through the air, hitting the ground with a grunt. Rolling, he scrambled to his feet and watched as his Cougarzord bit down on someone's front porch. The people inside the house started screaming. From behind him, Nico heard an eerie, maniacal laugh, and spun around.

"Forget your Zord; it's in Korassil's power now," a voice called. Out of the shadows stepped a monster made of metal, shaped vaguely like a train, but instead of a face, it had a glowing glass disc. "Just as you are in mine."

"Like hell I am!" Nico snarled. "Stone Claws!"

Leaping, he charged, bringing both arms down to slash the monster across the chest, but yet again, he felt air. Unable to stop, he crashed to the ground, somersaulted and sprang up again. Phantasmagoria's laughter rang out all around him.

As his Zord tore off the house's roof, sending shingles flying, a deep growl sounded from the night. The Cougarzord paused, as if listening. With a whoosh, a silver-and-black-striped body shot over Nico and Phantasmagoria, slamming into the Cougarzord. The two rolled away, snarling.

"What?" Phantasmagoria exclaimed, startled. The sound came from a nearby cluster of pines.

"Gotcha!" Running towards the voice, Nico leaped and slammed both feet into the monster's chest. It staggered back, and Nico landed in a crouch. Lunging forward, he slashed wildly at the creature, blades sparking on the metal body.

Staggering back, Phantasmagoria tried to distract him with projections, or blind him with the light behind its featureless face, but Nico wasn't even looking. Yelling with each stroke, he forced the monster back until it bumped a pine tree. At last, it threw up its arms, smoke pouring out of its body. Nico kept hitting it right up until it exploded. The blast picked him up and flung him into a tree, setting several others on fire. Stunned, he crumpled.

The two Zords had recovered, and stood facing each other, growling. The newer one was a massive silver tiger. White virus fluid trickled through the gaps in the Cougarzord's hull. Crouching, the Tigerzord leaped and tackled its opponent flat, raking it with massive claws and fangs. Shields overloading, the Cougarzord howled as explosions tore through its hull. It scratched and bit at the Tigerzord, but couldn't get enough traction flat on its back.

Dropping its head, the Tigerzord sank its massive fangs into the Cougarzord's throat. With a wheezing howl, the pilotless Zord writhed, weakened, and finally went limp. Its body twitched a little as the virus tried in vain to control the broken parts.

***Korassil's Ship, 9:22 pm***

"It wasn't your fault," Xumara said over a private speaker. "We've all had trouble with our Rangers—even Lothor."

"I am the leader; I will take responsibility for my subordinates' failures," Korassil replied. Turning, he stopped before the door of the main mirror room.

"He doesn't treat you with any respect. I don't know why you put up with it, after all these years," Xumara muttered.

"Silence." Korassil's voice was cold. "Lothor spared my life and gave me a high position in the fleet—"

"The fleet _you_ put together!"

"—When he could have killed or exiled me, and you as well. Hold your tongue." Korassil switched off the communicator as the door swung open. Entering, he activated it, revealing all of the other generals, except Xumara, waiting. In the center of the room, he bowed.

"How'd it go?" Lothor asked.

"I would have succeeded if the Silver—"

"Failed again?" Lothor didn't sound amused.

"I apologize, sir. It will not happen again," Korassil said. He glanced around. From the sour looks and tense stances of the other generals, they hadn't been doing well themselves.

Lothor sighed deeply. "Why I keep you around I don't know." Somewhere behind him, a squeaky voice rang out in protest, and he added, "Shut up, girls. But, on the bright side, I've found someone to deal with that pesky Silver Ranger you've picked up."

Stepping aside, Lothor revealed another Power Ranger, this one clad entirely in black. A silver kanji gleamed on his chest, the symbol for darkness. Reaching up, he removed his helmet, letting a ponytail of blond hair fall across his shoulders. He was young, twenty or so, and rather handsome.

"I've been looking for that Ranger for almost a year now," the new Ranger said, tucking his helmet under one arm. "His name is Christian Slater, he's my little brother, and he has not yet begun to interfere in your plans."

***Trivia***

A phantasmagoria is a kind of play using a magic lantern to tell ghost stories, which I discovered when looking up magic lanterns for a better name for this monster (originally called Magick Lantern).


	17. Chapter 17: Firestorm

Disclaimer: Still don't own the submissions or the show.

_Last time we saw the Earthlight Rangers: The teens tried to make contact with their Zord builders, but the message was intercepted by a street thief named Micky. Rescuing him from his abusive father, Jess struck a deal with him for the message, which told them to come to a particular address the next evening. Thanks to bugs planted in her earlier invasion of the house, Xumara learned the news as well, and decided to send Zart against the team._

***February 8th, Tito Street, Palencia, 7:58 pm***

Rat smelled a rat.

He looked the building up and down. 115 Tito Street was a dingy laundromat with boarded-up windows covered with illegible graffiti. Wyatt and Jess were already scouting around, just in case the space ninjas were lurking about. Rat had suggested there might be something _inside_ to worry about, but they wouldn't listen. Nobody listened to him. Still, Rat wanted his Zord, and this looked like the only way to get ahold of it. He guessed his chances of survival were better if he had a giant robot.

Jess came around the building, and after a moment, Wyatt appeared on the other side. Frankly, Rat was surprised he hadn't gotten lost halfway. The two teenagers scurried back to Rat.

"Nothing suspicious," Jess said, and checked her watch. "Let's go."

"You first," Rat replied. When Jess glared, he rolled his eyes and added, "They'll recognize you first, o sister-of-the-Sensei."

Jess went, followed by Wyatt, and Rat brought up the rear. Reaching the door, Jess knocked briskly, and stepped back. They didn't have long to wait.

The door swung inward, and an elderly woman peered out of the dark at them. Taking them in, she nodded once and opened the door wider. The trio entered, Rat surreptitiously checking his morpher and amulet as they did. As he entered, the door slammed shut behind him, plunging them in darkness.

Before anyone could react, the lights switched on, yellowy and dim. In front of them stood a Hispanic man in a white lab coat, probably somewhere in his forties. Clasping his hands behind his back, he eyed them, his face stony. Jess and Rat had dropped into a fighting stance, but Jess now straightened. Wyatt just watched expectantly.

"Jess Walsh, Wyatt O'Hare, Mason Green," the man said, looking at each of them in turn.

"Present," Jess said, giving Rat a mild punch to the upper arm. Shooting her a glare, he abandoned his fighting stance, but remained tense.

"How do we know you're who you say you are?"

Not batting an eye, Jess replied, "Your name is Lorenzo Delgado, you attended the Earthlight Academy when you were younger, becoming good friends with Nardu—and on March 24th the two of you snuck fireworks into the girls' cabin in the Lifelight compound—"

"That will do," Delgado interrupted. The lighting was poor, but it looked like his ears had gone a bit pink. Wyatt giggled. Delgado turned a knob on one of the dryers. With a thrum and whoosh, it slid aside, revealing a trapdoor and a ladder, lit from beneath by white light. The man climbed down first, and Jess led the others after him. It was a short climb. The further down they went, the brighter the light from below grew.

At last, they came out of the passage, and Jess stopped up short. The others didn't even mind; Rat gaped, and Wyatt whistled. A massive hangar buzzed with activity all around them. The three Zords stood silently, hooked up to a web of tubes and wires, resting on a metal framework. Whirring, clanging and low thrumming chatter echoed around the hangar. Delgado reached the bottom of the ladder, and after a moment, the ninjas followed.

"We'd actually completed the Albatrosszord first, but the design's bugs hadn't been fully worked out by the time we got the news, so we used it to build the others," Delgado said, guiding the trio into the center of the hangar. "I think you can guess which of these is yours."

Rat ran straight to the Fireflyzord. It was a little smaller than the others, about the size of a one-pilot private airplane. The scientists had already started unplugging it, and he slid through the group. With a spring, he landed on one wing, and walked to the cockpit, which opened up for him. An Earthlight sigil gleamed on the back wall. Slipping into the pilot's seat, Rat looked over the controls. They looked real and functional. He wished he was more of a techie and could tell if they'd been sabotaged.

A boom made the hangar tremble. Everyone stopped what they were doing to look up. Dust trickled from the roof. As Rat craned his neck to see, a second boom made the hanging tubes and wires jiggle. A faint scream carried from above, along with an insane laugh. Rat realized what was happening, and his stomach clenched. Zart was back.

Jess's Komodo Dragonzord's eyes lit up. It rose free of its supports and restraints, turning towards the far wall. It split open down the middle, revealing a set of massive doors. They swung open slowly, and the Dragonzord, followed by the Mongoosezord. Rat hesitated, but realized he was probably safer outside, where he could maneuver.

"Earthlight Storm, Ranger Form!"

_Rat stands in a__nightstruck forest, surrounded by the glowing dots of fireflies and glowworms.__As he throws his arms out, the insects alight on__him, until his entire body glows yellow-green. The light fades to reveal his Green Ranger __suit. His face guard and visor close over his face, and he strikes an upright stance, right forearm before his face, left drawn back at chest height, palms flat._

"_Power of Lifelight!"_

***Tito Street, Palencia, 8:15 pm***

Zart stood in the middle of the burning laundromat, watching his Fiery Salamanders scamper through the abandoned machinery. They'd already torn a gaping hole in one wall, and several had slipped out to attack nearby buildings.

Over the roar of the flames, he heard mechanical noises, and grinned. Just as Xumara had predicted, the Rangers were coming to fight. Summoning a cluster of Fiery Salamanders with a gesture, Zart mashed them together. Swirling and roaring, the creatures molded together and grew, drawing more fire from the inferno around them until they smashed through the roof.

Stepping outside, Zart looked up as his creation staggered, smashing through one of the laundromat's remaining walls. Bits of flame dripped from the massive monster. Through the haze of smoke dropped Xumara's ship. Before Zart could react, a gun rose and fired blue lightning into the monster. It roared, and the flames faded, forming a black segmented shell of a body. Flames licked around the edges of each piece. Now essentially solid, the enormous lizard creature laughed, the noise booming through the air.

A second roar echoed it, and between the buildings rushed a pink-and-bronze Komodo Dragonzord. As the monster turned towards it, a red blur swooped from behind, and a massive mongoose struck at the monster's leg. Snarling, the fire monster turned and brought a clawed fist down on the Zord's head. It stumbled.

Zart pulled what looked like a radio out of his robes, and turned it on. In a burst of static, he heard the Pink Ranger's voice. It was ridiculously easy to tap into Zord radio; from what Zart had heard, sometimes ordinary stations picked it up.

"Wyatt!"

"I'm okay," the Scarlet Ranger replied, as the Zord picked itself up. The fire monster brought a foot down on his Zord's tail, and it fell down again. "Just give me a minute."

Lurching forward, the Komodo Dragonzord slammed bodily into the fire monster, bringing it down. Zart sprang aside just in the nick of time as the behemoth crashed. Its shell cracked, and flames dripped like blood out of its body. Snarling, it seized the Dragonzord in a crushing grip. The robot struggled, but couldn't free itself.

"I'm losing my shields!" Jess shouted. "Rat, do something!"

"My attacks aren't as good as yours!" The Green Ranger protested.

"Stop whining and help!"

"Alrightalready."

Out of the smoky sky swooped the green Fireflyzord, rear glowing. It buzzed the fire monster, which stupidly let go of the Komodo Dragonzord with one hand to swipe at it. As the Fireflyzord took off out of reach, the Mongoosezord attacked again. Its rapid, nipping lunges only seemed to annoy the fire monster, but it lost its grip on the Komodo Dragonzord. All three Zords backed up, gathering on the far side of the street.

"Let's bring them together!" Jess ordered.

"Fine by me," Rat replied.

Wyatt sounded confused. "Do what, now?"

"Just follow my lead," Jess replied.

"Yes," Zart hissed, grinning widely. "One against one."

The fire monster picked itself up, bleeding flames. It rumbled, and advanced on the Earthlight Zords.

_The Komodo Dragonzord springs into the air. Its hind legs rise up its body, attaching to the other two and shifting to form arms. Its head drops down into its body. Below it, the Mongoosezord splits in half, folding up into a pair of red-and-bronze legs. The Komodo Dragonzord lands on it, and the two attach with clicks and whooshes. Performing a barrel roll, the Fireflyzord curls up its body and lands atop the forming Megazord. Its wings fold forward into the sides of a helmet. The front of the Fireflyzord's body rises, exposing a bronze face._

"Earthlight Megazord!" The Rangers shouted.

Smirking, Zart began to gather the rest of the fire into a massive ball. The fire monster charged, bellowing and trailing flames. Its fist slammed into the Megazord's chest, and it staggered back. Seizing the Megazord in a backwards hug, the fire monster held it in place.

"Get this guy off!" Rat yelled.

"What's he doing?" Wyatt wondered aloud.

"Look!" Jess had seen the growing fireball.

Hauling back, Zart hurled it at the Megazord. It struck, enveloping the robot in flames. It staggered, and the fire monster shoved it forward. Naturally, the flames hadn't bothered Zart's monster in the slightest. The Megazord fell with an echoing boom. Static almost drowned out the Rangers' shouting, and Zart cackled.

"Activating Scale Shield Power Sphere!" Jess shouted.

As the fire monster moved in for the kill, the Megazord rolled over. The Earthlight sigil on its chest popped open, and a Power Sphere flew out, transforming into a massive scale-patterned shield. Catching it, the Megazord blocked the fire monster's attack. The Rangers pushed back, forcing the fire monster away. The Megazord sprang to its feet, cracking the pavement, and charged, ramming the monster shield-first.

"What?" Zart cried. Immediately, he got to work on another fireball. However, as he threw it, the Megazord deflected it right back at him, and he had to duck. Grinding his teeth, Zart hurled a volley of flames at the robot, but it stood firm.

"Wyatt!" Jess yelled.

"Activating Shard Shuriken Power Sphere!"

The shield vanished. Quickly, Zart summoned more fire, but he'd already used most of the blaze. Out of the Earthlight sigil came yet another Power Sphere, opening up to reveal a set of jagged obsidian shuriken. Catching them, the Megazord backed up, away from the oncoming fire monster.

"Shard Volley!" The Rangers shouted, and threw the shuriken. They split and duplicated into a swarm of black, and slammed into the fire monster. The remnants of its shell shattered, and it howled as it collapsed. Its fiery innards collapsed with a boom, burning away in seconds.

"No!" Zart screamed. "It's not fair!"

He started for the Megazord, only to teleport away after three steps. Materializing inside Xumara's ship, Zart looked around in fury. Xumara stood there, expression impassive.

"You told me I could burn them! Why did you stop me?" Zart roared, advancing on her. Sparks crackled around his fingers.

"Fuel," Xumara replied curtly. Zart paused, confused. "Or didn't you notice how quickly your fires went out whenever you hit the Megazord? You're going to need something to keep it going long enough to cook the Rangers-or to make it powerful enough to burn through the hull. When we have that, I'll let you finish the job."

"Hurry," Zart snarled.

***Earthlight Zord Hangar, Palencia, 8:44 pm***

"I knew it was a trap," Rat said, as the Rangers exited their Zords, demorphing.

Jess punched him in the arm. "Shut up! It wasn't their fault!" She gestured to the crew now fussing over their Zords.

All of the Rangers were sweaty, and would have an array of bruises in the morning. Someone gestured to a corner of the hangar, and seeing a small door, they hurried over. It turned out to lead to a break room, set up with a row of lockers, a couple of bathrooms, a quasi-kitchen and a couple of chairs and couches. Combing her hair out of her face with her fingers, Jess flopped onto the closest sofa. Wyatt sat beside her, and Rat took a chair.

"How did Zart find out where the Zords were being kept? You said yourself that nobody could have followed us without being detected." Rat folded his arms, sitting back in the chair. "The only people who knew about this place were us, Kai, and everyone here. Do the math."

"He's got a point," Wyatt put in. "But if they were waiting for us, or even tracking us, why not attack before we got the Zords?"

Jess frowned thoughtfully. "Good question. I think they wanted us to bring out the Zords-you noticed how even when Zart was attacking, right above us, the hangar didn't budge. They probably couldn't get at them without us." Her face lit up. "Which means they couldn't have a man on the inside."

"Or they have one who isn't important enough to have his own key," Rat countered. "Be realistic. All Zart has to do is threaten to toast somebody's family, and bang, spy."

Nobody spoke for a few minutes. From the hangar, they could hear the sounds of their Zords being repaired. They hadn't been too badly damaged, just a little cooked.

"The monsters got into Kai's house before we even arrived," Jess replied. "The spy could just as well be over there. We have just as much reason to trust the people over there as here, so I say we just be careful until we find proof. We'll all keep our eyes and ears open. How's that?"

Mollified, Rat nodded, and Wyatt shrugged.

"Sounds fair," he said, and looked over at the refrigerator. "Do you think they have any sodas?"

***Trivia***

This chapter, and part of the next, was written during a Write-Until-You-Pass-Out challenge yesterday.


	18. Chapter 18: Bug Zapping

Disclaimer: Power Rangers belongs to Saban, and the OCs to their submitters.

_Last time we saw the Ethereal Rangers: Reggie had interrogated a captive Easton about his teammates, and tricked them into thinking he was on their side. They followed his plan to "rescue" Easton, and when he turned on them, fought back. In spite of their inexperience and Kerri's growing troubles with her broken morpher, they escaped with Easton and their newly-repaired Zords._

*** February 8th, Tauza's Ship, Airspace Above the Himalayas, 10:30 am***

"Vy von't you let me follow zem?" Reggie demanded, pacing back and forth across the bridge. "I could crush zem!"

"When you found them," Tauza replied, barely breaking a monotone. She didn't even look up from the console. "And assuming you'd recovered enough from your last defeat to manage three Zords, possibly a full Megazord. I'm taking the fight out of them first."

Reggie paused. His glare faded. "Take ze fight out of zem?"

The corner of Tauza's mouth twitched upwards in a slight smile. "I've tweaked Korassil's nanocam design a bit; they're more, shall we say, aggressive, when they're threatened."

"I like ze sound of zat," Reggie replied, starting to grin.

"I thought you would. Here, watch." She beckoned him to the console.

***Somewhere in the Himalayas, 11:27 am***

"Guys? I don't think I can stay morph—ow!" Kerri cut herself off with a yelp. The Batzord dropped, only just recovering. It passed so close to a mountain slope that it swept up a dusting of snow.

"Land. Now," Easton said. The Goldfishzord dropped into a dark canyon, and the other two Zords followed suit.

The Batzord almost lost control once more, clipping its wing on a boulder with a metallic screech. Snow puffed up around the robots as they settled. Susana barely waited for the Pandazord to touch down before springing out and running to Kerri's cockpit. Out stumbled Kerri, morph blinking in and out. Susana caught her. The Diamond Ranger was sweating in spite of the cold, and her limbs trembled.

"Power down," Kerri managed at last, and the suit vanished. She collapsed against Susana, panting. "Guys? I think . . . something's wrong . . . with my morpher."

"No kidding," Susana muttered, wrapping Kerri's arm around her shoulders and dragging her back towards the Pandazord.

As Susana helped Kerri inside, Easton's voice came over the intercom. "The Zords are bugged. We need to take care of that before we make any plans."

"What? How do you know?" Susana asked.

"I overheard."

"Can you look in the Batzord for me? I'll check the cockpit while I'm here," Kerri said.

"Fine."

Shutting her eyes, Kerri leaned back in the pilot chair and started humming. Susana stared at her for a moment, remembered how she usually got around, and shrugged. Now, how did she get into the back of the Zord?

"Easton, did you hear them say where they put the bugs?" She asked. "I mean, all throughout the Zords, or just in the cockpits?"

"They didn't say. We'd better check, just to be safe." Over the intercom came a muffled grunt. "Got one. They look like giant black beetles and they buzz when you touch them."

Kerri stopped humming, and sat up. "Easton, are you okay?" She sounded concerned. "You sound like you're hurt."

"I'll live. We need to hurry."

Finally, Susana found a small hatch in the back of her cockpit, just big enough to crawl through. Pushing it open, she slithered through the gap. It was almost pitch-black inside, and very hot. The only light came from a blinking panel deeper inside, gleaming off the metal innards of the Zord. Susana hadn't even gotten through up to her knees before she bumped her head on a pipe. She was hemmed in on almost all sides: clearly this part of the Zord was meant only for a mechanic. Then she saw the ladder directly in front of her.

Sitting up, Susana began to climb, slanting up through the machine. Rubbery tubes pulsed around her, full of dark fluids, and panels of circuitry blinked in time. A metallic groan carried towards Susana from deeper inside.

On one nearby green panel, Susana noticed a black smudge the size of her palm. Cautiously, she reached towards it. The thing felt perfectly smooth beneath her gloved hand, and it buzzed at her touch. She'd found one of the bugs. Grabbing it, and ignoring the louder buzzing, Susana yanked. An electric jolt shot up her arm, and she recoiled, letting go.

"Easton! You didn't say anything about the bugs being tasers!" She snapped into her communicator.

"What?"

"I found one, and I'm pretty sure it just shocked me." Susana flexed her fingers and looked back at the bug. Looking more closely, she noticed six spindly legs protruding from its body, digging into the panel. A blue spark jumped up one, into the bug's body. "It looks like it's attached to the Zord."

"Grab it with a non-conductor," Kerri called. "Plastic, glass, rubber, there might be some ceramic spare parts back there you could use."

"Right." Susana glanced around, but couldn't see anything that looked like a spare part or a cabinet for one. No, wait, there was a panel covered in writing a little further down. It slid open easily, revealing a set of tools hanging on the back, including a flashlight, and yes, a few strips of rubber. Grabbing a strip of rubber and clipping the flashlight to her belt, Susana turned back to the nanocam.

The buzzing rose to a high-pitched squeal as she pulled, and more electricity made the circuitry around it spark. With one final jerk, Susana tore it free. Several of its legs still clung to the panel, wires hanging out of the quivering ends. Susana looked at the thing. It wriggled in her grip. Clenching it between her hands, she crushed it with a pop, and threw it away. It plinked off the machinery.

Distantly, a pattering sound echoed through the Pandazord. It sounded like snow falling on the hull to Susana, so she didn't pay it any real attention. Climbing again, she looked around for more of the bugs, but couldn't find any, even with the flashlight. The pattering noise grew louder. Were those rocks?

"Um . . . guys? I think we may have a problem," Easton said.

"Can you be a little more vague, please?" Susana said, finally reaching the top of the ladder. It ended at an access tunnel, just big enough to crawl through. Glad she wasn't claustrophobic or especially tall, Susana slid inside, flashlight aimed straight ahead of her.

When Easton spoke again, it was in a rush, barely audible over an angry mechanical buzz. "The bugs are fighting back."

Susana stopped. The clattering noise ahead of her grew louder. Just ahead of her, the tunnel curved sharply to the left. As Susana aimed her flashlight at it, a mass of black bugs swarmed around the bend, heading right for her.

"Ethereal Shuriken!" Susana yelled, yanking the throwing stars out of the crest on her helmet. Hauling back to throw them, she banged her elbow on the wall, and her throw went wide. Most of the shuriken hit the walls, and the few bugs that got hit fell to the floor, out of the others' way. Realizing she needed room to fight, Susana started scrambling backwards as quickly as she could go.

"Susana? What's happening back there?" Kerri called.

"Busy!" Susana yelled back. Her feet brushed empty air, and after a second of kicking, she found the ladder. Catching one rung, she swung herself out. "Projection Blade!"

The weapon appeared in her hand, and she started swinging and slicing. The tip of the blade caught the tunnel, drawing sparks, and the bugs flew into it with bursts of plasma. They swerved around it, but Susana kept flailing. A shock jolted her ankle: looking down, she saw one of the bugs had latched onto her boot. She flattened it against the ladder and rubbed until it fell off.

"Do you need me, or should I just stay here?" Kerri called. Susana didn't reply, just grunted as she swung herself out to slice through a wave of bugs. Sparking and fizzling, they pattered down through the bowels of the Zord. "Guess I'll stay here, then."

Two more bugs shocked Susana, and her left foot slipped. She didn't lose her grip on the ladder, but the jerk sent a jolt of pain up her arm. More bugs swarmed around her, too close for her to get with any of her weapons. The electric shocks made her fingers and toes prickle, and then go numb. She felt herself slipping, and hooked an elbow around the ladder.

Her head pounded, sweat made her suit slick, her breath fogged up her already-tinted visor. Deciding to go ahead and risk it, Susana snapped it open so she could see. A few of the bugs made a beeline for her, but she easily smacked them out of the air. Her fingers cramped on the hilt of her sword. As her swings lost force, they grew wilder. And the bugs just kept coming.

The Projection Blade fell first, slicing through a pipe on the way down. Blue-green coolant spurted from it like a geyser, quickly soaking the ladder. It made the metal slippery, and Susana almost lost her grip. Any of the bugs that got it began to wobble drunkenly around, slow enough for Susana to swat bare-handed.

"Susana! Let go!" Kerri yelled suddenly, sounding much closer than before.

Susana looked down, and saw the other Ranger standing at the bottom of the ladder with a morphed Easton. In the Sapphire Ranger's distraction, a cluster of bugs dove, landing on her chest. Blue sparks flew, and Susana slipped off the ladder with a yell. The sound cut off as she hit a metal pipe with a clang, and dropped the last few feet to the floor. Kerri just missed her.

"What—" Susana panted.

"Morning Star, Stun Blast!" Easton shouted, raising a club topped with a spiked ball over his head. Out of the spikes shot yellow lasers, slicing into the bugs and frying them with little bursts of energy. They fell, clattering like hailstones through the Zord's interior.

Kerri helped Susana stand. The Sapphire Ranger swiped at the coolant clinging to her uniform. Lowering the Morning Star, Easton turned back to the two girls.

"I'll take care of Kerri's Zord."

But as he moved past the other two, a dull boom made the Pandazord tremble. Everyone exchanged glances, Susana and Kerri visibly bewildered. A second, louder boom rocked the Zord. Faintly, an all-too-familiar metallic shriek cut through the air. Their old friend the Black Ranger was back.

"I think you'd better hurry," Kerri said to Easton. Nodding, he ducked out the hatch, and she followed.

Susana was right behind them, slipping into the pilot's chair as they climbed out of her Zord. The Screech Owlzord wasn't visible, but it couldn't be far away. Once her teammates were clear, Susana moved the Zord away, and started scanning the area. Until Easton had cleaned out Kerri's Zord, she was the only one who could fight. Hopefully that wouldn't take too long.

A huge black shadow swooped over the canyon, briefly blotting out the sun. Susana glanced at the Batzord, and saw what looked like a golden gleam from inside. Hopefully that was Easton taking care of things.

"Guys? I think we should form the Megazord," she said into the console communicator. "If you think you're up for it, Kerri. We'll be able to help you out this time."

"Megazord? Cool," Kerri replied.

"We're done," Easton added. He zipped back to his own Zord in a golden blur, just as the Screech Owlzord paused overhead.

"Megazord sequence, activate!" The trio shouted.

_The Pandazord rises up. Its legs stretch, unfolding from its narrowing body, and its head detaches, joining onto its right shoulder, and one arm drops out of it. The Goldfishzord attaches to its left shoulder, and a hand pops out of its head. Taking off, the Batzord latches onto the Panda's back, its head forming the helmet, and its body expanding into the wings. The Batzord's jaw drops, exposing the Megazord's face._

_"Ethereal Megazord!"_

The Megazord shot up, out of the canyon and landed on the slope with a boom. Susana glanced around. She'd been expecting to leave her cockpit, but apparently that wasn't how this one worked. Oh well.

"Kerri?" She asked.

"Fine, but we should probably keep this short," the Diamond Ranger replied.

"Gladly," Easton said.

The Screech Owlzord dove towards them, claws extended. Abruptly, the Megazord took off, shooting straight up into the air. It stalled and almost fell, but flapping its wings, it recovered just in time.

"This thing is heavier than I expected," Kerri said.

"We've all got Power Sphere attacks, let's use them," Easton said. "Koi Kunai Power Sphere!"

The Ethereal Sigil on the Megazord's chest popped open, and out flew a gold-banded Power Sphere. It popped open, revealing a set of golden fish-shaped kunai. They spiraled and flew at the Screech Owlzord, slicing at its hull and drawing sparks and smoke. The Owlzord dropped, recovered and came around again.

Kerri cried out in pain, and Susana heard a fizzling sound over the communicator.

"Kerri!" Susana yelled.

"I-I'm fine, just—we're landing," she managed. The communicator switched off for a few seconds, but not before Susana heard Kerri start to screech through her teeth. The Megazord dropped, Batzord jerking and flapping its wings convulsively.

"Sparrow Gun Power Sphere!" Susana ordered, dropping her own coin into the slot.

Out of the Megazord's chest emblem popped another Power Sphere, this one blue. It opened to reveal a large handgun, its pommel shaped like the wings of a sparrow. Catching it, the Megazord fired a volley of blue lasers at the Screech Owlzord. Susana held the trigger down, feeling the Batzord still jerking around inside the Megazord. Hull rupturing, the Screech Owlzord flapped wildly, but kept moving forward, tilting into a steep dive towards the Megazord.

At the very last second before it hit, a green light blasted through the clouds. The Screech Owlzord stopped, frozen in place inside the green beam. Susana didn't hesitate: she slammed her fist down on the trigger control, peppering the Owlzord with lasers. Unfortunately, the green light absorbed them all. It lifted up and away, taking the Owlzord with it. The Rangers glimpsed a black, insect-like ship through the clouds as it disappeared.

"Guys, we need to get out of here," Easton said. "Kerri?"

"No?" Her voice shook. Susana's fists clenched involuntarily.

"Kerri, I know it hurts, we need to get as far away from these people as possible, just hang on," Easton said. "I know you can do it."

Kerri audibly stifled a whimper. The Megazord took off, zipping around a mountain and away from the black ship. The Batzord's parts groaned, grinding against the other Zords as if it wanted to break out of the Megazord. They dipped and swerved a couple of times, but managed to stay on course.

"Here," Susana said, as a dark fissure opened up before them.

"But—" Easton started to protest.

"We're landing before you get Kerri killed!" Susana snapped.

The Megazord dropped, just a little too quickly for a normal landing, into the ravine. Darkness swallowed it up.

***Trivia***

The Sparrow Gun Power Sphere, like several of the other Power Spheres, is a takeoff of the original arsenal submission, a "sword and hand gun," altered since each Ranger begins with one individual hand-to-hand weapon.


	19. Chapter 19: Snowfall

Disclaimer: Still don't own the fandom or the submitted characters.

Quick question, guys: what with the team-swapping style I'm updating this fic, would it be helpful to include some kind of "last time we saw these Rangers . . ." note at the beginning?

(The consensus seems to be "Yes," so I've added them in retroactively as well, for readers who might be catching up.)

_Last time we saw the Season Ninjas:__ Tyler and Sienna's day off was interrupted by Dean, who first tried to assassinate them, and then morphed and attacked when that failed. They managed to fend him off, only for an alarm to start sounding, warning them that someone had broken into the Zord hangar._

***February 7th, Downtown Scrimshaw, 10:40 pm***

A single patrol car cruised down the road, past several skeletal buildings. The Rangers' fight with their own Megazord had taken its toll on the district, but most of the debris had already been cleared away.

Officer Darla Moody glanced around the street. No vandals or monsters tonight, thankfully. She checked her watch. She had time for a little repair work while she was on her shift.

Pulling up at the curb, Officer Moody climbed out. Light from the one surviving street light illuminated a row of saplings along the side of the street. All but two had been crushed by debris, and the survivors had lost branches. Checking to make sure nobody was looking, Officer Moody gestured, both hands together, towards the nearest standing tree. Turquoise energy glowed around her fingers, and the sapling began to regrow.

A cold wind picked up, making the trees' branches rustle. Frost began to spiderweb across their leaves and bark. Officer Moody paused, confused. Before her eyes, the tree turned white, stiffening with a crackle as it froze.

An eerie laugh rang out, and the wind blew again, making the frozen twigs tinkle against each other. Eyes widening, Officer Moody spun around, only to be enveloped in white energy. When the light faded, the policewoman had been frozen solid in a block of ice.

***February 8th, Zord Bay, Scrimshaw, 11:15 am***

Anya heard the whoosh of ninja-streaking, and looked up from the Penguinzord's cockpit. Two teenagers ran into the hangar, and looked around, clearly confused. They spoke, but their voices didn't carry far enough for Anya to make out the words. Leaning on her console, she watched them, curious what they would do next.

With a gesture, the boy faded away. Anya glimpsed a distortion moving closer. Aha, an Autumn Ninja.

"Hey!" Anya yelled, popping out of the cockpit. She was still a little breathless from her run to the hangar. "Can one of you guys tell me what happened to the school?"

Spotting her, the girl ninja-streaked up beside her, striking a fighting stance as she landed. Anya looked her up and down, stood, and adjusted her pose with a couple of quick jerks.

"You'll slip if you plant your feet like that," she said.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" Sienna demanded, yanking out of her grip.

"Look at the uniform and guess," Anya said, sitting back down in the cockpit. She crouched, looking into an opened panel. "What did you guys do to this thing? The controls are all messed up."

Sienna folded her arms. "How did you survive the attack? Where have you been and how do we know we can trust you?"

"I have a very honest face," Anya said, not looking up.

Reaching down, Sienna grabbed a handful of Anya's collar and yanked her around. Quick as a flash, Anya seized her wrist and twisted back. Sienna slipped and fell on the Zord hull with a clang. Before she could recover, Anya dragged her into the cockpit and aimed an elbow at her ribcage.

"Don't like that? Let's try 'I could have taken both of you down but didn't out of the goodness of my heart' instead," she said.

At that point, a hand clamped down on Anya's shoulder and swung her around. A palm strike to the face snapped her head back, and she fell against the seat. De-camouflaging, Tyler climbed into the cockpit and pulled Sienna away.

"Sorry," he said to Anya, "But attacking us doesn't really help if you want us to trust you."

Finding that her nose wasn't bleeding, Anya shrugged and propped her feet up on the console. "Whatever. The name's Anya Barnes."

Sienna froze, staring at her in disbelief. "Wait—you're that student who went to the loony bin!"

"My fame precedes me," Anya said, the corner of her mouth tugging up in a slight smile.

"Um . . ." Tyler looked from one girl to the other. "Loony bin?"

Anya sighed. "Something tells me you guys want a full explanation."

"It'd be nice," Tyler said.

"I don't do 'nice,'" Anya replied, flipping a panel shut with her heel as she sat up straight. "Dangerous sociopath, you know."

"No, I don't," Tyler retorted. "You want to gloat, fine, but we could barely figure out what that bad guy did to the Zord controls, I don't think you'll get very far alone."

"That bad guy? You mean the guy in the suit who was making the other students fight?"

Tyler and Sienna exchanged silent looks. Anya started to get up, flinched, and touched her ribs. When the others noticed, she stopped and straightened, folding her arms.

"I think we both have long stories to tell," Tyler said.

***Persephone Café, 11:40 am***

"So, you two are the only ones left?" Anya asked, twirling her fork in her salad. The trio sat at one of the café's outdoor tables, in the shadow of the the corrugated blue metal overhang. Most of the lunch crowd was inside thanks to the noontide heat, so the trio could talk openly. A radio news show played quietly in the background.

"Yup," Sienna replied, through a mouthful of her pita bread. She swallowed. "How did you get out of the nuthouse?"

"And what you were doing there in the first place?" Tyler asked.

"Like I said, I'm a sociopath," Anya said. She propped her elbow up on the table. "Though they wouldn't have found out if it wasn't for Jeremy."

"Jeremy?"

"Jeremy Wick," Sienna put in, giving Anya a hard look. "The student she murdered."

Anya pointed a fork at Sienna. "Hey, _he_ was the one who tried to kill _me_ in my sleep. I was just defending myself."

"That's why you weren't sorry at all afterwards, even though he was your best friend for five years, and you started sleeping with the murder weapon," Sienna replied dryly. Tyler looked startled at that.

"Pretty much, yeah. I mean," Anya gestured with both hands, "If you can't trust your best friend, who can you trust?"

"My point exactly." Sienna folded her arms.

"Now, to answer _your_ question," Anya continued, glancing at Tyler, "Since Sensei Von Kreig stopped visiting me to keep me from using my powers, I used them to escape. It's as simple as that."

"And that bad guy—the Thinker," Tyler put in. "What about him?"

"Ran into him in the woods, making some of the other students fight for this." Anya nodded down to the belt buckle morpher. "I decided to jump in."

"Why?" Tyler asked.

"Why not?" Anya looked from Tyler to Sienna and back, eyebrows raised, as if she couldn't believe they didn't see how obvious it was. "I need to stay sharp."

"That's—" Sienna began, but Tyler interrupted.

"Wait a second." Moving around the table, he turned the radio up.

". . . Not the first of these incidents in Scrimshaw. Just last night, two police officers—Lieutenant Darla Moody and Officer Peter Landors—were found frozen solid in different parts of town," the female announcer said. "Authorities have not confirmed the cause or causes, but believe the cases to be connected. All five victims have been connected to the recently destroyed Global Gym downtown."

Sienna and Tyler exchanged alarmed looks—and immediately turned to Anya. The White Ranger only looked mildly intrigued.

"Moody and Landors, I remember those two, they were Spring ninjas. Someone's picking off the graduates," she said, grabbing an apple off Tyler's plate and slicing out a wedge. "Wants to cut you off from any possible allies, probably."

"What's your game?" Sienna snapped, moving around the table and catching Anya by the arm.

In one quick gesture, Anya freed her arm, eating the wedge off the knife blade. "Nothing. Not my style, freezing a whole person and just leaving them there—and I couldn't do it even if I wanted. Powers still a little rusty, haven't used them in three years and all."

"Then do you know who might be doing it?" Tyler asked, coming back to the table.

Sienna whipped her head around towards him. "You believe her? Just like that?"

"Do we have a reason not to?" Tyler replied. Before Sienna could reply, he interrupted, "I know, sociopath, but she's still innocent till proven guilty."

Anya paused in the middle of cutting another apple slice. "Thank you, Aussie," she said, starting to cut again. "You're surprisingly decent."

"I don't believe this." Sienna rose. "Come on, we should probably check this freezing thing out. There are only a couple of hospitals in this city; it shouldn't be hard to find the one they took the survivors to."

"I'm not done yet," Anya said.

"Good, I wasn't talking to you."

"You're not helping," Tyler said to Sienna, in a low voice. Sienna just rolled her eyes, grabbed his arm, and pulled him away.

"Guess I'll handle the tip, then," Anya said, as they disappeared around the bend. Once their footsteps had faded, she checked both directions, reached into her coat, and pulled out a rolled-up comic book. Flattening it on the table, she started to read.

***Stewart Memorial Hospital, Scrimshaw, 1:17 pm***

By the time the two teenagers reached the hospital, the road in front of it was swamped with police cars. Worse still, reporters and rubberneckers crowded around the cars, as close as the police would let them get, all talking and shouting at once.

"You sneak through, figure out what's going on," Sienna said.

Nodding, Tyler looped around the crowd into an alley, right beside the hospital's grey-white wall, and disappeared. Sienna looked around, and spotted a woman delivering a news report to a camera. She slithered through the shifting crowd towards her, but not too close.

". . . Latest in a string of still-unexplained freezing incidents at Stewart Hospital, where several of the earlier victims are being treated: several doctors and visitors attending the victims have been found frozen, and the perpetrator is believed to be in the building. Authorities are attempting to evacuate the hospital," the woman said.

Sienna had heard all she needed. Slipping through the crowd, she ducked into the nearest empty alley. As she ducked behind a dumpster, Sienna noticed a couple of puddles on the pavement. They were frozen. Sienna threw her shoulders back, grasping her morpher.

"Summer Storm, Ranger Form!"

_Sienna stands in a grassy, green meadow, a storm raging above her head. Rain pelts her, melting her ninja uniform away to reveal her Yellow Ranger garb. Her helmet materializes as her long hair shortens to fit inside it, and the visor snaps shut._

Barely waiting for her morph to finish, Sienna ran back towards the main entrance of the hospital. Seeing her, the crowd parted to let her through, as did the police.

"Yellow Ranger!"

"You show that monster who's boss!"

"Will you marry me?!" That last shout made Sienna look back in bewilderment, but she couldn't see the speaker.

Running into the lobby, Sienna found herself trapped in a flood of fleeing nurses and doctors and patients. She almost asked for directions, but realized that all she had to do was go the way everyone was running from. Weaving through the crowd of scrubs and wheelchairs, she reached an elevator just as it opened.

Inside, Sienna hesitated, looking at all the floors. Before she could make a guess, the doors closed, and the elevator lurched into motion. Someone else must have hit its button. Well, that worked too. She turned on her helmet communicator.

"Tyler?"

She heard a grunt and a thud. When Tyler spoke, he was panting. "Fifth floor. The thing's frozen a lot of people, take care of them first."

"Got it."

The elevator pinged, 5th floor button glowing orange. As the doors started to open, a cold wind blasted into the elevator. Ice filled the gap between the doors, freezing them in place. A musical laugh echoed from the hall outside.

"That's not going to work for much longer," Sienna said, and summoned her heat powers. She gestured towards the door, and the ice started to melt, dripping down the doors and puddling on the floor. However, as she melted the ice away from the door, she could hear more crackling and hardening around her.

"You're sure it's a monster?" She asked into her communicator. "Because it sounds an awful lot like a person."

The attacker let out a high-pitched giggle. Abruptly, the entire elevator car shuddered, and Sienna stumbled. Catching one wall, she looked up. She could hear someone walking around on the roof. Almost as she realized this, the footsteps stopped. A metallic sound rang out, like a sword being drawn from its sheath.

"Sienna—get out of the elevator, now," Tyler said.

Not stopping to ask why, Sienna focused all of her power on the ice holding the doors shut. It began to evaporate with a hiss. Overhead, the eerie laughter finally stopped. Sweat made Sienna's hands slick inside her gloves.

"Goodbye, Sienna," the attacker said. "Hi-ya!"

There was a clang, and a sound like breaking glass. The elevator dropped, throwing Sienna up against the roof. She knocked her head on the wood, and everything went blurry. Vaguely, she was aware of someone screaming, and a weird, weightless feeling, like she was flying. Then there was another, louder crash, and everything went black.

***Trivia***

The Sentai version of the Persephone Café is also a Greek cuisine restaurant, and Sienna's counterpart works there as part of a family business.


	20. Chapter 20: A Family Affair

Disclaimer: The show belongs to Saban, the submitted OC's in today's chapter to Neoangelius.

_Last time we saw the Terra and Shinobi Rangers: Mrs. Ramirez announced that Terra Academy's principal was coming to visit, and Nico finally told her the truth about the attack. Korassil launched his plan to capture Nico's Zord, taking it over with Malwaria's virus as Nico fought the monster Phantasmagoria on the ground. However, the Silver Ranger produced his Tigerzord, which was able to stop Nico's Zord. Lothor revealed the Silver Ranger's older brother, a Black Ranger, to his generals._

***February 11th, Cave in the Appalachians, 9:20 am***

Nico climbed out of the cockpit of the Cougarzord, dropping to the floor of the cavern. The only light came from the lantern on a rocky ledge, and the flashlight in his hand. Malwaria's white goop clung to his Ranger suit, squelching in his boots with each step. With a groan, Nico tried to swipe the sticky stuff off, but it only clung to his gloves.

"Wish I had a Mineral Springs ninja around, they'd be able to hose you out," he said to the Zord. "Assuming that wouldn't fry the works, anyway."

Grabbing a shard of rock and a bucket, Nico climbed up the Cougarzord's side, and started scraping the virus goop off. It plopped in the bucket, quivering like jelly. Footsteps echoed down the tunnel, and the Silver Ranger appeared in the tunnel entrance. Like Nico, he was still morphed.

"Made any progress?" He called.

"Not really, other than you busted it but good. I'm no mechanic."

The Silver Ranger ninja-streaked up on the hull beside Nico, landing in a crouch. "Are there any good mechanics in town?"

Nico paused, thinking. "Erickson might be able to do it. I think he helped build the last hangar or something like that. But he got paid—a lot."

"I'll handle it. What's his address?"

"It's on Lucas Street, his name's on the sign," Nico replied, just as his phone rang. It lay on the cockpit seat. Scooting over, he flipped it open. It clinked against his helmet as he tried to put it to his ear. "What?"

"The principal's here," his Mom said.

"What?"

"I told you he was coming."

"Yeah, but—"

"You're the one who knows exactly what's going on, not me. Get back here and deal with it." His Mom hung up without another word.

With an exasperated groan, Nico got up. It took a couple of tries for him to turn the phone off while wearing gloves, but he managed.

"You're going?" The Silver Ranger sounded surprised.

"My old Sensei's the principal she was talking about. Might as well find out what's happened at Terra Academy since I ran away," Nico said.

"Sounds like a trap."

"Yeah, probably." Nico jumped onto the Cougarzord's extended foreleg, and then the floor. "Maybe you should hurry up and get Erickson to fix my Zord. Might come in handy."

Without another word, the Silver Ranger ninja-streaked out of the cave. Nico followed, zipping down the still-snowy mountainside towards Castle Ridge. Smoke still rose from the destroyed factory: coal was hard to put out. It only took a few seconds for Nico to reach his house, stopping in the backyard.

"Power down."

Straightening his jacket with a jerk, Nico marched towards the house, climbed the steps and pushed the back door open. In the living room sat Sensei Blackfeather and Mrs. Ramirez. Nico started to come in, but his Mom caught him with a glare. Stopping, Nico wiped his boots on the mat, and gave her a look as if to say "happy now?" She nodded once, curtly, and rose.

"You'll have to excuse me; as I told you on the phone, I've got to go to work," she said.

Sensei Blackfeather nodded. With one final glance at Nico, Mrs. Ramirez left the room. As the front door shut, Nico dropped into an armchair. Folding his arms, he watched his former Sensei.

"Nico," Sensei Blackfeather said. He didn't look well at all: his face was pale, and his black quiff of hair had gone limp. He sat with hunched shoulders, making him look shorter than usual, and he twiddled his fingers.

"Yeah?"

"I'm not sure how much you know about what's happened to the school . . ."

"So tell me."

Sensei Blackfeather wouldn't make eye contact, or even look up from his lap. "We surrendered. It was the only way to prevent Korassil—the leader—from hurting or killing the students."

"Except for kicking his butt back into space, of course," Nico replied dryly.

"We tried to fight him off, but he's more powerful than all of us." Sensei Blackfeather sighed. "Which is why I've come to ask you to surrender."

Nico sat bolt upright. "What?"

"The only reason Korassil is attacking Castle Ridge is to capture you, Nico. If you surrender, he'll leave the city—and Terra Academy—alone. He's told me to tell you that if you hand yourself over now, he won't punish you. Even if you won't join him, he'll just take your morpher and leave you alone."

Sensei Blackfeather finally looked up at Nico, studying him for a response. The teenager sat back, with an unusually thoughtful frown, and drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair. After a moment, he stopped, and looked Blackfeather in the eye.

"You can go back to Terra and tell Korassil to do his worst. I've fought plenty of his cronies and won, I'm not scared of him."

For a moment, Sensei Blackfeather almost smiled. Then his face grew grim, and he stood. "You've barely had a taste of what Korassil can do. He is ruthless; he'll do whatever it takes to bring you down. No matter what—_or who_—he has to destroy to get to you." He stared at Nico, who glared right back. Then something bleeped, and Blackfeather held up his left wrist. A black metal cuff encircled his arm, just covered by his jacket sleeve. Without another word, he left, slamming the front door behind him.

Nico sat still for a long minute. There was something funny about the way Blackfeather emphasized those words—or who. Wait . . . Nico sprang out of the chair with a muttered curse, and ran for the door.

"Terra Storm, Ranger Form!" He shouted. He morphed as he leaped down the front steps, landing in a roll. His Mom's car was already gone, but her office wasn't far, especially going by ninja-streak. As he ran down the road, Nico decided he needed something to get around in when he wasn't using a Zord. Maybe a motorcycle.

The coal refinery rose up before him, soot-grey against the muddy snow. Everything looked normal. However, as Nico stopped on the other side of the street, he saw a third-story window shatter. A feminine scream rang out.

"Don't you dare!"

When Nico tried to ninja-streak up the side of the building, he fell flat on his back. Flipping upright, he ran inside. Zipping up the stairs, he knocked over a few passing workers, but didn't even register it.

Nico rammed right through his Mom's office door, and saw an unfamiliar Black Ranger holding her by the throat. She struggled, disheveled, in the stranger's grip to no avail. Seeing Nico, she started to shout, but the Black Ranger melted into the wall, dragging her with him. She screamed once as they disappeared.

"No!" Nico ran up to the wall, but his mother and the attacker were gone without a trace. Furious, he slammed a fist into the wall, cracking it.

After a moment, he turned, crunching glass underfoot. As he did, he noticed a sheet of yellowy paper pinned to the desk by a black shuriken. Hurrying over, Nico snatched the paper up, and read it.

If you ever want to see your mother again, alive and in one piece, be in the city park in five minutes. Alone.

Nico crumpled the paper in one hand, hurling it aside. He grabbed the shuriken, turning it in his hands. He didn't recognize the symbol on it, but it looked like kanji. Clenching it in his fist, he ninja-streaked back down the stairs.

***Leawood Park, 10:02 am***

The Black Ranger stood in the middle of an open field, stock-still. The arms and legs of his uniform gleamed silver-white in the morning light, as did the matching crest on his angular visor, and the accents across his suit. His uniform was bulkier than Nico's with steel grey armor on the shoulders and knees, as well as a breastplate, gauntlets and vambraces. A pair of twin swords hung across his back.

Hearing the whoosh of ninja-streaking, the Black Ranger turned to see Nico land a few yards away. The Blue Ranger whirled his Terra Bo and dropped into a fighting stance. He was breathless from the run, but still visibly itching for action.

"Where is she?" He demanded.

"Safe, for now," the Black Ranger replied. "Having any second thoughts about Korassil's offer?"

"I'm having second thoughts about not going straight to his ship and rearranging his face," Nico replied, slamming one end of the Terra Bo into the ground. "But I think I'll start with you."

"I'd really like to see you try," the Black Ranger replied, sounding amused. Nico took a step towards him, and he added, "Though I think it's only fair to warn you, whatever you do to me, your mother gets a double dose of."

Nico halted. His gloves creaked as he gripped the bo tighter. Closing the gap between them, the Black Ranger circled Nico once, looking him up and down. He stopped in front of Nico.

"Hand over the morpher, now, and nobody gets hurt."

"Not happening. How do I know you'll even give her back if I surrender?" Nico asked.

"You don't, but your other option is to watch as I take her apart."

The two watched each other in silence for a minute. Then Nico raised his left arm.

"Power down."

"Good choice," the Black Ranger said, as Nico unstrapped his morpher.

However, Nico backed up a step, holding the morpher up. The Black Ranger took a step towards him, and Nico backed away. His fist turned to stone with a crackle.

"Hand her over or I'll crush it."

The Black Ranger just shrugged. "Fine."

He snapped his fingers, and a couple of Kelzak Berserks materialized behind him, holding Mrs. Ramirez by the arms. She looked around in bewilderment, tried to jerk herself free, saw Nico and froze. He flashed a wry half-grin at her, and turned a glare back on the Black Ranger. Another finger snap, and the Kelzak Berserks shoved Mrs. Ramirez towards Nico. She stumbled a little, but caught herself before Nico could. Dusting herself off, she stepped around behind him.

"So that's where you've been sneaking off to?" She asked, looking at the morpher in Nico's hand. "That's a relief. I thought you'd joined a gang or something."

"Not a good time, Mom."

"Hand it over," the Black Ranger said, holding out a hand.

"And let you people do whatever you want with it? I don't think so," Nico replied, strapping it right back on.

Before he could morph, dozens Kelzaks swarmed out of the trees and playground equipment, all wielding bladed tonfas. They surrounded the two, shuffling silently into place. The Black Ranger shook his head.

"You really thought we'd fall for something like that? Kill the woman, leave the Ranger to me," he said to the foot soldiers. In one smooth gesture, he drew both of his swords from their sheaths across his back.

"Terra Storm, Ranger Form!" Nico shouted, morphing in a flash and drawing his Terra Bo. "Get down!"

Mrs. Ramirez dropped, shielding her head, as Nico swung the Terra Bo over her head. He took out the first wave of Kelzak Berserks, sending them staggering into their fellows. However, more quickly shoved past them. Gripping his bo like a quarterstaff, Nico caught four tonfa strikes, shoving them back with a grunt. Mrs. Ramirez screamed as a blade caught her upraised arm, and she punched the attacker, catching it in the shin.

More foot soldiers pressed in on the Ramirezes, in spite of Nico's increasingly wild swings. The ones he managed to hit only staggered and kept on coming. Standing near the back, the Black Ranger gave his swords an experimental twirl. They whistled in the air—and clanged against a raised katana blade.

The Silver Ranger stood in front of Black, sword drawn. Noticing him, the Kelzak Berserks hesitated. Nico took advantage of their distraction to grab his mother and throw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Cover your head," he said, turning his entire body to stone. She obeyed, and doubling over, Nico bulled through the foot soldiers, shoulder-first like a football player. Their blades sparked against his suit as they tried to fight back, but were knocked aside or trampled. The rest chased after him, waving their tonfas.

"Chris," the Black Ranger said, "I was wondering when you'd show up."

"What? How do you—"

"Really? You don't recognize me, little brother?" The Black Ranger broke the sword lock, backed up a step and dropped into a fighting stance. "Like the suit? Lothor based it on the Thunder Ranger morphers."

"Alex?"

The Black Ranger charged, and Chris blocked one low sword stroke, ducking a high swing from the other. Coming up, he slashed at Alex's shoulder, but the Black Ranger caught his blade between his twin swords.

"Of course, it's not the Shinobi morpher—but then again, I'll have that too, soon enough."

"I don't think so!" Chris jerked his sword free, twirling to slash upwards across Alex's chest.

Sidestepping, Alex scissored the blades at Chris's throat. The Silver Ranger backflipped, coming up to catch two downward swings on his katana. However, at the last second Alex twisted one blade sideways, catching Chris's leg just below the knee. Suit sparking, Chris dropped to one knee.

Alex's next blows came thick and fast, keeping Chris on the ground. The last sword stroke sliced through Chris's helmet—but with no resistance. Carried by his momentum, Alex stumbled, turning as the ghostly duplicate of Chris dissipated into the air.

With a snarl, Alex whirled just in time to catch Chris's attack on one sword. Chris shoved him away, backing up a few steps. He limped a little, and his left leg was blackened where Alex had slashed it.

Before Alex could recover, he was enveloped in blinding light. Chris paused, bewildered, as his older brother vanished into thin air. He hesitated a moment, and then ran after Nico and the Kelzak Berserks.

***Korassil's Ship, 10:24 am***

"Why did you stop me?" Alex demanded. He'd materialized on the bridge, where Korassil was monitoring the battle as usual.

"Your mission was to take the Blue Morpher. Your family feud can wait," Korassil replied.

Alex's visor retracted, and he glared at Korassil. "You think that was about a grudge?"

"That _is_ why you joined Lothor, isn't it? To get revenge on your brother?"

Alex rolled his eyes. "Please. Nico's an amateur; Chris is the real threat here."

"Then why couldn't you capture him before your brother showed up?" Korassil's tone was even, not even a touch of sarcasm. "I gave you a mission, focus on it."

Alex said nothing, but his blue eyes narrowed. Korassil turned back to the console, watching as Nico and Chris took down the remaining Kelzak Berserks.

"Still, with Sensei Blackfeather's interview, this fight has been instructive," Korassil said. "The Blue Ranger is focused on survival, and protecting those he knows and already cares about. I suspect if we force him out of his home, where he has no one to protect, he'll be less willing to fight—particularly if the Silver Ranger continues to push him towards heroics."

Hearing that, Alex's expression became thoughtful. Slowly, he began to smile. He came up beside Korassil, glancing down at the screen. Nico slashed a Kelzak Berserk across the face, and it exploded, throwing him against a rock wall and shattering it.

"In that case, I may have an idea," Alex said.

***Trivia***

The original plan for this chapter did not include Alex capturing Mrs. Ramirez; it was going to go straight to Korassil deciding to force Nico out of his hometown and set him against Chris. Things only took this turn during Sensei Blackfeather's final warning, when I realized that taking a Ranger's parent(s) hostage is a pretty solid plan for dealing with most Rangers _*coughReturnofanOldFriendcoug h*_.


	21. Chapter 21: Red-Eyed Herring

Disclaimer: Saban owns Power Rangers, the submitters their OC's.

_Last time we saw the Earthlight Ninjas: Following their note, the trio went to a laundromat, where Jess got them through a test, and they finally got their Zords. Zart launched an attack, trying to draw the Zords out to destroy them, but the Megazord pulverized his monster. After the battle, the teens deduced that Zart could only have known where they were if he'd been told by someone on the inside._

***February 17th, Kai House, Palencia, 9:14 am***

"You guys have any leads?" Jess asked.

The three Earthlight Rangers sat in one of the mansion's several dusty parlors, surrounded by the personnel files of everyone involved with their Zords. Rat and Jess had both worked out their own systems, Wyatt just settled for a couple of piles.

"It can't be someone in charge, otherwise they'd just have let the bad guys in," Wyatt said. "That narrows it down to these guys." He put a hand on the largest pile.

"Same," Jess said. "But I'm guessing it wasn't someone who's been left basically unattended with the Zords either, since nothing's been sabotaged."

"This isn't getting us anywhere," Rat said, slamming down a set of folders. "We need to root the traitor out before they can cause any damage."

"I'm open to suggestions," Jess replied, a slight edge entering her voice.

Rat thought for a moment. "We split them into groups and tell each one a different lie about our next plan. Whichever one the bad guys prepare for will narrow things down to a couple of people."

"I like it," Wyatt said.

Jess couldn't help but agree. "Okay, let's put this stuff away and start brainstorming."

"I'll do it!" Springing up, Wyatt started collecting files. "You guys can start without me."

"Please, what would we do without the intellect of the guy who can't remember he's not in Sweden anymore?" Rat replied, earning a glare from Jess.

Wyatt froze. "We're not in Sweden?"

Rat slapped his forehead.

***Darkside Avenue, Palencia, 10:20 pm***

Ben Lewis struggled with the rusty lock on his door. He blinked hard, trying to keep his eyes from going into that vertigo shot thing they always did when he was tired. The oily lamplight behind him cast the lock in shadow, and he fumbled just to find the keyhole. Everyone was taking double shifts trying to repair the Rangers' Zords before Xumara and her minions attacked again. They were nearly finished.

"Here, let me get that for you," a female voice interrupted. Ben spun around, and nearly bumped noses with Xumara. She smiled at his shock, and raised an arm. The black streamers on her sleeves stretched out, wrapping around Ben and picking him up. He struggled, but the fabric only tightened around him.

"I'm sorry," Xumara said, setting Ben down on the base of the cracked brick steps. She came closer, reaching back to untie the black strap around her forehead. "But the Rangers expect to find a traitor, and you were the most convenient."

"I'd never help you!" Ben protested.

"Darling, you don't have a choice." Xumara pulled the headband away.

Mouth agape, Ben stared in fascinated horror. Xumara had a third eye in the middle of her forehead. It opened, revealing an electric blue iris. Although he tried, Ben couldn't look away. The eye seemed to get bigger and bigger the longer he looked.

Ben's eyes turned red, and black fluid began to run out of the corners, streaking his face like inky tears. An insane giggle burst out of him, and then another. Xumara shut her eye, and put her headband back on, releasing the scientist. He crumpled to the pavement, still quivering with uncontrollable laughter.

"Get up," Xumara said, and he obeyed. "Good, now listen to me, I'm only going to tell you this once."

Unbeknownst to either Xumara or Ben, they were being watched.

***February 18th, Earthlight Zord Hangar, Palencia, 10:20 am***

"I don't like this plan," Rat said. "The Fireflyzord's the only one that can fly, whatever armaments Xumara's got are probably more than I can handle alone."

"We'll be giving you ground support the minute you find the ship," Jess replied. Both teens spoke clearly, but not too loudly. The cluster of scientists nearby didn't seem to be listening, but they could hear what was being said. Wyatt was doing the same thing with Mr. Kai on the other side of the hangar.

"You're still assuming I find the bad guys before they find me. Ground support won't help if I've been blown out of the sky," Rat retorted. He wasn't entirely faking the argument: Jess had seriously considered this plan during the brainstorming session.

"By that logic, we shouldn't even use the Zords because Xumara will just blow us away. We've already upgraded the defense systems after the last fight."

Rat shook his head. "Upgraded doesn't mean invulnerable, and we haven't even really fought Xumara, just Zart."

Jess nodded slightly, and the two wandered away from the cluster of technicians, heading for the break room. That had been their fifth group. Wyatt was a few steps ahead, and he held the door open for them.

"We're done?" He asked hopefully, as the trio entered the empty break room.

"Just about," Jess said, dropping into a chair. "Now all we have to do is wait."

Nobody said anything for a minute. Ignoring the awkwardness, Rat fished a sheet of paper out of his pocket, and started folding it. Wyatt noticed, and watched Rat transform it into a pterodactyl. The door to the men's room opened, and a shaggy-haired man stepped out. Glancing over at him, Jess paused, and sat up.

"Hey, are you okay?" She asked.

"Huh?" The man glanced towards them, barely lifting his head. His eyes were bloodshot, and one of his hands trembled.

"Lewis?" Mr. Kai stood and approached him. "You look awful."

Lewis's arm shot out and caught Mr. Kai by the collar. He didn't look up, just swung around and hurled the man into a wall. All three Rangers were on their feet before Mr. Kai even hit the floor.

"Earthlight Storm, Ranger Form!"

As the trio morphed, Lewis began to laugh. Black fluid started streaming out of his eyes, quickly covering his clothes and pooling on the floor. As the Rangers—well, Wyatt and Jess—lunged for him, he melted into the goop, his empty clothes collapsing in a heap.

"Stop him!" Jess yelled, drawing her Earthlight Katana. She struck at the black slime, but it just parted, and her blade stuck in the floor. As she struggled to free it, the slime curled around the blade and up the hilt. It had ensnared her hands before she realized what was happening.

Wyatt started hacking at the stuff from the other side, but the slime just avoided his blows. As Jess struggled with the sticky, clinging goop, more caught her by the ankles. It picked her up, dangling her in midair as she struggled. In the middle of the sludge, a pair of bright red eyes opened, focusing on Jess, and an insane giggle rang out.

"I'll get help!" Rat shouted, and darted out the far door, slamming it shut.

Jess retracted her visor, took a deep breath, and blew fire at the monster. It parted down the middle to let the fire through. Wyatt was standing on the other side, and the blast hit him squarely in the chest, knocking him flat.

"Wyatt!" Jess yelled.

In her distraction, the slime monster lunged for her face. Her visor snapped shut, slicing off a chunk of the goop, and she let out a muffled scream. As she struggled, the slime monster completely enveloped her in black slime.

With a grunt of pain, Wyatt pushed himself onto his hands and knees. He looked up at the monster. From behind, he could see a flattened, smoking seam in the slime monster's back, just the size of the hole it had made for the fire.

"Heat works on it?" He said out loud. "Okay."

Springing to his feet, Wyatt struck a fighting stance, and focused. From the outside, it looked like nothing was happening—except for the heat distortion around his body. Charging, Wyatt dove into the goop. As soon as he hit the black stuff, a cloud of steam enveloped him, accompanied by a loud hiss and a shriek of pain from the monster. It recoiled, now covered in rubbery-looking clumps of solid black sludge, but Wyatt just followed it, practically swimming in the monster.

The thing let go of Jess, the black cocoon around her splatting as she hit the floor. It slid back into the main body, which kept trying and failing to get away from Wyatt. Sitting up, Jess retracted her visor again. The black stuff had covered her nose and mouth. Wrinkling up her nose, Jess sneezed, burning a hole through the monster. The black goop fell off her face and slithered back to the main body as fast as it could.

"Good plan," Jess panted, and pursing her lips, blew out a stream of concentrated flame. It incinerated the escaping clump of black goo, and sliced right through the monster. With a howl of agony, it collapsed in a writhing puddle.

As the slime finally escaped him, Wyatt stood. He made a gesture towards the stuff, and it recoiled. Still bubbling, it started to reshape itself into a man. Jess got up, crossed the room and checked on Mr. Kai. His eyes fluttered open, and he groaned.

"I think he's got a concussion," she said, looking at the ugly bruise on his forehead.

The far door slammed open, and a group of scientists burst inside. By now the slime had turned back into Lewis fully: he stirred as the men and women surrounded him. One woman held what looked like a remote control. She aimed it at Lewis, pushed a button, and a force field materialized around him.

"Where's Rat?" Jess called, as another scientist joined her beside Mr. Kai. Nobody answered.

Wyatt swayed a little, catching himself on the wall as Jess joined him. "That was clever, noticing the monster's weakness," Jess said. "I didn't know you'd mastered body temperature manipulation yet."

"I don't think I have, really," Wyatt replied, and demorphed. His face was very pale, and he was breathing hard. As he lost his morph, his knees folded. Jess only just caught him as he collapsed. Scooping him up, she carried him to the sofa, where one of the other scientists examined him.

"I guess that explains our traitor," Mr. Kai said, coming up beside her.

"Looks like it. Power down."

***Tito Street, Palencia, 10:37 am***

Rat stepped into the empty street, and scanned the area. No, it didn't look like the bad guys were sending any backup this time. The only sound was a trickle of slimy water running into a nearby storm drain, and the distant echo of traffic noises. Relieved, he leaned against a graffitied brick wall. He couldn't feel any vibrations, either, so the fight was probably done. They hadn't needed him anyway.

There was something funny about that monster. Not what it could do; it was a monster, after all, weird abilities were par for the course. Why would Xumara plant a guy with that kind of power in their base, and then have him just attack them? It'd have been smarter to have the thing sabotage their Zords, or kill off the other scientists, or even sneak up on the Rangers when they were asleep and offed them. It didn't add up.

"Hey, you know that Pink Ranger?" The voice startled Rat, and he spun around. In the narrow alley behind him stood a scrawny boy about his age, dressed in ragged clothes and a red baseball cap. There was something about him that made Rat want to make sure his wallet was still there.

"Does it matter?" Rat asked.

"I saw something you guys might be interested in," the boy replied, stepping out of the shadows.

"What are you talking about?"

"A monster. Two, actually. Thought you'd want to know what they were doing, but if you're not interested—" he started to turn away.

"Wait," Rat interrupted. "What kind of monster?"

The boy looked back, and grinned. His teeth were crooked. "Uh-uh, I'm not just going to tell you. Remember last time? You want something from me, you pay for it."

"You're the brat J—the Pink Ranger rescued!" Rat realized aloud.

The kid—Micky, Rat remembered—glared. "Who are you calling a brat? You don't sound any older than I am." Rat didn't reply. Micky continued, stroking his chin. "Now, for what I've got, I think . . . two hundred dollars is fair."

"Two hundred?"

"That helmet messing with your hearing? That's what I said. One hundred and fifty for the info, fifty since you're being rude."

Rat growled. Still, if this guy had something useful, it might be worthwhile. Plus it might make his teammates less annoyed if he brought some information back.

"I don't have all day here," Micky said, folding his arms. "Deal or no deal?"

"Deal."

Micky grinned. "Great. You get the money; I'll wait here for you."

Turning, Rat went back inside the laundromat.

***Xumara's Ship, Palencia Airspace, 10:46 am***

"Perfect," Xumara said, turning off her console. She'd been able to see what her monster could, and with its defeat the screen had turned to white noise. "Their suspicions are taken care of. A pity Lewis couldn't defeat them."

Zart, sitting in a corner with his back to Xumara, didn't say anything. Mock-pouting, she swept over to him, dress rustling.

"What's the matter, Zart? You wanted to go out and play?"

"Go away."

Xumara patted his shoulder comfortingly. He shrugged it off. "I know, I know. I'd have loved to let you fry the Rangers, but that just wouldn't have worked for my plan," Xumara said. "Tell you what, how about you have a little fun with some of the other monsters in the simulation deck? Call it training and they'll go along with anything."

"Shut up."

Xumara's voice sharpened. "That wasn't a suggestion, Zart. Go."

Rising, Zart walked off the bridge. As he reached the hall, Xumara turned back to the console, and the screens showing the feed from the Kai house. She frowned thoughtfully.

"Then again, I may need Zart again soon. I can't have you settling in Palencia, Rangers."

In the dark hallway, Zart stopped, and turned around. Holding up his index and thumb, he looked back at Xumara. He pressed his fingers together, pretending to squish her head with a little burst of flame. The light illuminated the grin twisting his face.

"Soon."

***Trivia***

In planning, this chapter was meant to continue for a bit past this point, into the Rangers' reactions to Micky's info, but it worked out this way.


	22. Chapter 22: Nightmare Fuel

Disclaimer: I do not own any intellectual property previously disclaimed.

Also, I'm officially bumping updates to Thursday, so you know.

_Last time we saw the Ethereal Ninjas: Kerri's Zord control gave out, forcing the trio to land in a canyon. There, Easton warned them that Tauza had planted bugs in the Zords, and they got to work cleaning them out. No sooner had they finished than Reggie attacked again, but again they fought him off with Megazord formation. Fleeing, they hid again as Kerri's broken morpher continued to cause trouble._

***February 8th, The Himalayas, 9:15 pm***

Susana sat in a dark room behind the Megazord's chest, next to an unconscious Kerri. On Easton's advice, they'd shut down most of the Megazord's systems to hide from radar, and this space was big enough for them all, unlike the cockpits. The only light came from blinking circuitry scattered around the room, and it cast eerie shadows across the place.

The exterior hatch swung shut.

"Easton?" She called, in a stage whisper.

"Coming."

Susana watched him climb down into the room. He was still morphed, unlike the girls, and carried a snowball of all things cradled in his left arm.

"What's that for?"

"Nothing serious. It's all clear out there," he added, heading to the far side of the room. Susana had hung a tarp, splitting the room between boy and girls, and now he ducked behind it. "How's Kerri?"

"Still unconscious." Susana glanced down at the White Ranger. She'd passed out almost as soon as they'd landed. "Do you know anyone around here who can repair Kerri's morpher? I don't think she can handle another morph," Susana said.

"I'm not really sure where 'here' is," Easton replied. He demorphed in a golden flash: Susana saw his silhouette as he sat down. "Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to look around. Our morphers were made in Japan originally, I'm not sure if anyone outside the school knew how to repair them."

"Great," Susana muttered. Turning back towards the girls' corner, she heard Easton hiss, and paused. "You okay?"

"Fine." Easton's voice was taut.

Susana pulled the tarp aside, and saw Easton sitting with his back to her. Realizing he'd taken off his shirt, she started to turn away, but noticed the ugly, massive bruise covering half of his ribs. Hearing her, he turned around, revealing more swelling bruises on his arms and jaw. He was holding a handful of snow to the side of his face. Susana stared for a second, not knowing what to do or say.

"When—"

"Reggie," Easton replied, looking away. "He wanted some information."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Susana demanded.

"Didn't think we needed any more trouble. Besides, I could still fight—still can, once I get this fracture or whatever it is tied up." Grabbing his discarded shirt, he started tearing it into strips.

Susana hovered uncertainly by the tarp curtain, not sure whether to offer to help or let Easton take care of his injuries. He did seem to have things under control, she told herself. So why was she still standing there?

"Do you think there's a way to use the Megazord so Kerri doesn't have to morph?" She asked at last.

"Probably—I don't think Tauza would want to rely on three synchronized pilots at all times. I'll check the computers." Easton began winding the bandages around his chest, pulling them taut against his ribs.

"I can take care of that now," Susana said. "Someone should probably keep watch anyway, in case Tauza finds us."

"Fair enough."

"Get some rest," Susana said. She headed for the access ladder, glad to escape the awkward situation.

***Tauza's Ship, Himalayan Airspace, 9:29 pm***

Tauza strode down the corridor, footsteps echoing up the long, poorly-lit hall. As she passed iron door after iron door, glowing eyes lit up inside, or a clawed hand reached through the grille. Ignoring them, Tauza stopped in front of one particular cell.

"Dreamsnare," she called. With a rasping sound, a single, pale, bulbous eye appeared in the darkness. It watched her silently. "I want you to find a few enemies of mine. They should be asleep by now, or very nearly."

Coming a step closer, Tauza pulled out a handful of dusty objects. One by one, she slipped them through the bars. A silver crescent moon charm, a broken violin bow, and a guitar pick on a cord. With a shuffling sound, the prisoner came forward. One bony hand pressed against the grille. It looked almost human, except for the claws on the tips.

"These belonged to them. If you succeed, I'll let you out," Tauza said. "All charges dropped."

Dreamsnare scrambled back, and Tauza cracked a small smile. Turning, she headed back up the passageway. A tentacle reached out of a cell towards her, but she smacked it aside, drawing a yelp from its owner.

***Ethereal Megazord, Himalayas, 10:05 pm***

Easton lay on his side. The last of the snow had melted, and the feeling was coming back into his side—unfortunately. Still, he was finally getting tired enough to sleep in spite of the pain. He shut his eyes. Gradually, his breathing evened out, and his body went slack as he fell asleep.

However, as he entered REM sleep, his breathing sped up. He started to twitch in his sleep. As he moved, the light caught an unnaturally dark spot on his forehead, growing slowly but steadily.

***Pandazord Cockpit, 10:52 pm***

Susana realized she was nodding, and jolted upright with a snort. She squinted at the computer screen glowing in front of her. Even though she knew the words, they didn't seem to make sense anymore. Still, she thought she understood how to pilot the Megazord alone.

Susana sat back, rubbing her eyes. She wasn't sure she could stay awake much longer—but she couldn't wake up Easton or Kerri to take over. Hitting a few buttons, Susana turned the alarm's volume up to maximum, just in case. She cracked the hatch open, letting in a blast of wintry wind, and shivered, focusing on the screen.

The paragraphs swam before her eyes. Susana rested her chin on one fist, squinting at the computer. If she just had caffeine, this wouldn't be a problem—and she didn't even drink coffee. Her blinks grew slower and slower, and she drooped forward. Finally, her arm tipped sideways, and she slumped against the dashboard . . .

Slipping off her backpack, Susana crept down the hall. It was dingy, wallpaper peeling, and a nasty patch of black mold near the corner of the ceiling. Glancing down at herself, she realized that she was nine years old again, but it didn't seem strange.

The door slammed behind her, and she jumped. Somehow, she knew that her father was home. Quickly, she scurried down the hall and into her room. She could hear him muttering as he took off his coat, and recognized the glassy clink of beer bottles. Without a second thought, Susana crawled under her bed.

She heard a thump and crash from the hallway, and cringed. A string of angry Italian curses rang out, followed by her name. With a start, Susana realized this had happened before. Her father had tripped over her backpack, gone looking for her, and—

"Susana!" Her bedroom door slammed open. Susana bit back a yelp. She curled up, not noticing her right hand flicker out of existence for a second.

***Ethereal Megazord, 11:59 pm***

Kerri groaned and rolled over, right off the pile of coats. She bumped her nose on the cold metal floor, and sat up, holding her face. Kerri looked around, confused. Her head pounded and she felt queasy. The room was too dark for her to see anything. Fortunately, she recognized the thrumming, mechanical noises, and realized she was still inside the Megazord. Also, something was moving on the other side of the room, breathing very fast.

"Guys?" She called. The echo showed her an Easton-shaped figure lying on the other side of the tarp. He was the one doing the twitchy panting. Rising, she crossed the room, hands outstretched. The bangles on her uniform jingled with each movement.

"Easton? Are you okay?" She pushed the tarp aside, hearing him let out a muffled moan. Crouching beside her teammate, Kerri touched his shoulder, only to jerk her hand back. Her hand had gone right through his arm.

"Easton?" Kerri stood up. This wasn't right. She raised her voice. "Susana? Something's wrong with Easton."

Faintly, Kerri heard what sounded like a sob coming from upstairs. She groaned, and headed for the access ladder. Fumbling at first, she climbed into the cockpit. Here there was enough light for her to make out Susana's figure. The top half of her body looked almost transparent, as if she was turning invisible.

Kerri looked down at her in bewilderment. ". . . Oh no." The echo clinched it: the sound went right through Susana's upper body, as if she wasn't there. She whimpered again in her sleep.

"Susana? Can you hear me?" Kerri called. She shook one of Susana's legs, which were still solid, but got no response. Disturbed, she backed up, and tried to think, for once. This had to be Tauza's work, but how? They were both asleep, and acting like they were having bad dreams—oh.

Kerri thought hard. She wasn't used to coming up with plans on her own. Okay, this thing was attacking people in their sleep. If she went to sleep, it'd attack her. Could she fight it, if she knew it was coming? She didn't like that idea. If something went wrong, they'd all be trapped and turn into ghosts.

Susana jerked with a yelp, and Kerri jumped. Apparently it was getting worse, and fast. She didn't have any better ideas, or time to come up with them. With a groan, Kerri climbed back down the access ladder and into her makeshift bed.

"This had better work," she said, making herself comfortable.

***February 9, Prison Deck, Tauza's Ship, 1:22 am***

Dreamsnare sat cross-legged in a corner of the cell. The faint light from his lidless, glowing eyes illuminated the three objects in his hands. He could see the two Rangers he'd trapped: they were already fading out of the real world, as he drew them into his dream dimension. With a gesture, he sent a tentacle of water out of the lake towards Easton. The Gold Ranger screamed and scrambled back. Susana was doing no better: her father had just found her.

A faint hum rose from the silver charm, and he focused on it, letting out a baritone chuckle. He entered Kerri's dream, like the others, invisible to start. He stood in what looked like an ordinary house, albeit a very vague and dark one. Glancing around, he wondered where Kerri was. Normally he'd just appear in front of his victim, so he could create their nightmare. Then again, this gave him time to search her subconscious for fodder.

Dreamsnare looked. At first, all he could find were a few nasty pranks. He dug deeper. The other two had such obvious traumas—Easton more than he consciously knew, adding a little extra tang to the nightmare—but Kerri hadn't. Her blindness came from birth; she'd never had to adjust to it. Her family had been poor, but all were alive. She'd barely even gotten bullied in school.

The monster heard the faint jingle behind him, but didn't register it. An arm encircled his throat from behind, jerking him back and down. A foot caught the back of his leg, just behind the knee, and he dropped with a grunt.

"Found you," Kerri said in his ear. "Now, what did you do to my friends?"

Dreamsnare shifted out of solid form, and Kerri stumbled forward a little. Solidifying behind her, he kicked her in the back, sending her sprawling. As she rolled over, he pounced, knocking the wind out of her in a whoosh. He pinned her arms.

"I think I'll have to do this the old-fashioned way," he said. The light in his eyes brightened to white, and two beams shot from them at Kerri's face.

Before they hit, Kerri melted into the floor, carpet closing over her like water. Dreamsnare fell forward on hands and knees, startled.

"What?"

"My dream, remember?" Kerri's voice echoed around him. "Well, this is what usually happens in my dreams. Axe kick!"

As Dreamsnare whirled around, the kick caught him upside the face, knocking him flat on his back. With a snarl, he scrabbled back like a crab. Kerri flew out of an open doorway, landing on the wall near the ceiling. She clung there like a cat, crouched and sprang, shooting through the air as if it was water. Dreamsnare rolled aside, but Kerri swung and connected a right hook with his chest. He grunted.

"Oh, hey, I bet I can morph in here without getting hurt!" Kerri exclaimed, standing. Grabbing her morpher from out of nowhere, she gestured, morphing in a blinding flash. Looking down at herself, she did a little hop of excitement. "Yes!"

He wasn't going to win this fight. However, in the real world the Diamond Ranger would be easy prey without her teammates. Dreamsnare started fading out of Kerri's mind.

"Where are you going?" She grabbed a handful of shuriken out of her helmet crest, and hurled them at Dreamsnare one-handed. Every single one hit, sticking out of his body. He fell back, startled at the pain. It felt almost real.

"Cool, let's do that again!"

"Let's not—" Dreamsnare ducked, but the shuriken moved with him. One struck his right eye, and he howled in agony. Doubling over, he clutched at the wound, blue-white sparks bleeding through his fingers.

"Oh. That worked better than I thought," Kerri said, walking closer.

"I'll kill you," Dreamsnare snarled, head jerking up towards her.

"Yeah, I've heard that a lot lately." Kerri somersaulted away from a single eye beam burst. "What other weapons do I have? . . . Huh. I dunno." She scratched her helmet, and laughed. "Guess that's what I get for not using them very much. Oh well, Batarangs!"

She threw the batarangs like she was skipping stones. Some stuck in his body like the shuriken, some exploded, one even sprayed the room with confetti. Dreamsnare fell flat on his face, smoking, and went still.

Kerri stopped. "Are you dead?" She came closer, moving cautiously. As she crouched to check, Dreamsnare's hand caught her by the ankle, jerking her off-balance. Lunging, he tackled her flat, grabbing her by the throat. With a wordless snarl, he began to squeeze, ignoring her kicks and struggles. It took all of his focus to stay solid—and even so, as his damaged eye flickered dark, he began to fade out.

Kerri swung a right hook, but it was a feint. As Dreamsnare dodged to the left, the new shuriken in her hand stabbed into his good eye. Screaming, he let go and fell back, clawing at his face. He flickered, blurred and vanished.

Kerri sat up, panting. She looked—and listened—around the room, and then stood up, dusting herself off.

"Okay, that was actually kind of fun. I hope they can fix my morpher in the real world soon."

***Pandazord Cockpit, 1:25 am***

Susana woke up with a shriek, and looked around, panting. Cold sweat glued her hair to her face and neck, and she had a bad taste in her mouth. Recognizing the cockpit, she relaxed. It had just been a dream. A vivid one, though: she checked her left hand, but the scar wasn't bleeding.

Her breathing slowing to normal, Susana shut the hatch. She heard what sounded like a yelp from the main room. Confused, she climbed down the ladder a few rungs. Out from behind the tarp stumbled a bleary-eyed, pale Easton. Noticing her, he looked sheepish.

"Just a nightmare," he said.

"Me too."

"I can take a turn on watch," Easton said, walking closer. The sleeping Kerri rolled over, mumbling a little.

"Honestly, I don't feel like sleeping for a little while," Susana replied, with a nervous laugh.

"Me either. We can both stay up," Easton suggested.

Susana shrugged. "Fine."

***Prison Deck, Tauza's Ship, 1:38 am***

Shoving the Sniper aside, Tauza unlocked the door and marched into the cell. She almost tripped over Dreamsnare's body. Crouching, she shook his shoulder, and then rolled him over. His eyes no longer glowed. He was breathing, but his face was slack, his mouth hanging open. Tauza waved a hand over his face. Standing, she gestured for the Snipers, who entered the cell.

"Get him to the medical bay, see if they can figure out what's happened," she said. Obediently, the two foot soldiers carried the monster out. He moaned as they did, and his arm dropped. Out fell the silver charm, which clinked on the metal floor.

***Trivia***

This monster probably wouldn't have happened if not for the Justice League episode "Only a Dream"—though I wasn't actually thinking about that when I gave Kerri Batarangs.


	23. Chapter 23: Before Dawn

Disclaimer: The show belongs to Saban, the submitted OCs to their respective creators.

_Last time we saw the Season Ninjas: Only just escaping the Thinker's Spider Drones, Anya found the Zord hangar, setting off an alarm which brought Tyler and Sienna to the scene. A radio report about a series of recent freezing incidents took the two younger Rangers to a hospital to investigate. In the fight, Sienna became trapped in an elevator, which her attacker sent plummeting down the shaft._

***February 9****th****, Stewart Memorial Hospital, 4:22 am***

It took Tyler a second to notice Sienna had moved. He'd nearly dozed off again in the hospital chair, despite how uncomfortable it was. The last time he'd gotten up had been to call her foster parents with their cover story. From the amused tone, he guessed they thought something was going on with the two Rangers that didn't involve monsters.

Sitting up, Tyler watched as Sienna's eyes fluttered open. She'd gotten pretty banged-up in the elevator crash, though thankfully no bones were broken (anymore: a Spring Ninja had slipped in to help a few hours before). She focused on him.

"What happened?" She croaked.

"You fell five stories in an elevator car. Your suit protected you, but you've been out for a couple of hours. I snuck you in with the other patients, and since everything's so crazy, they assumed your paperwork got lost. We've got a graduate ninja or two forging something to cover for you, and our families think we're camping."

Sienna groaned and craned her neck to look down at herself. Swelling bruises covered her exposed arms, where they weren't bandaged or lacerated, and Tyler knew the rest of her body wasn't much better. She looked back up at him.

"Did you get her?" She asked.

"Huh?"

"The monster," Sienna clarified. "If she _was_ a monster."

"No, it got away." It had used the split cables to catapult itself up through the hospital: Tyler glimpsed it as he went after Sienna.

Sienna groaned. "Great. What about Anya? Heard from our rogue Ranger lately?"

"I haven't, but I was going to go find her and ask her for help."

"Assuming she's not the cause," Sienna muttered.

"There's no proof of that."

"Who else could it be? A female-sounding stranger with ice powers showing up at the same time as the rogue female Winter Ninja? This isn't a coincidence, Tyler."

"Okay, okay," Tyler said, putting his hands up. "Calm down. You're in no shape to get worked up right now."

"You need to stop her," Sienna said.

"Stop who?" Tyler whirled around to see Anya leaning on the doorpost. She grinned, and winced at the sight of Sienna. "Ouch, what happened to you?"

Sienna sat bolt upright, swayed and caught herself on the side of the bed. With a look of fierce determination, she started to stand up. Tyler caught her as her legs buckled, and she clung to him.

"Easy, easy," he said, trying to get her back to bed.

"Oh no you don't," she said, shoving his arms away. Then, to Anya, "Back to finish the job?"

Anya quirked an eyebrow. "Heard about your little brawl and decided to see whodunit."

Shoving Tyler away, Sienna staggered across the room in a run and seized Anya by the collar, slamming her into the doorpost. Anya cracked up laughing as Sienna glowered at her.

"You're the one who attacked the hospital, aren't you?"

Catching Sienna by the wrists, Anya flipped her hands around and shoved her against the other doorpost. The smile never left her face. Sienna struggled, stifling a grunt of pain as Anya squeezed her bruised arms. Tyler quickly left his chair.

"What kind of meds have they got you on?" Anya said, looking Sienna up and down.

"Guys," Tyler said, gently pushing the two apart. "Can we please just calm down? This isn't the time or the place."

"She started it," Anya said, but let go. Sienna staggered, and Tyler caught her.

"Why are you on her side?" Sienna demanded.

"I'm not—we can't assume it was her fault. If a heat monster started attacking the city, would you want me to assume you'd gone bad?"

"I'm not a self-described sociopath." Sienna retorted.

"She's got a point," Anya said.

"Hah!" Sienna exclaimed gleefully. "See, she said it herself! Where's my morpher?"

"No, I just said you had a point. I never run away from a good fight," Anya replied. "Plus I wouldn't have left a pest like you alive." Sienna lunged at her again, but Tyler held her back. "This is just sad." Anya shook her head. "Bye, losers." She walked away.

"Let go," Sienna demanded, struggling in Tyler's grip.

"Not a chance." He picked her up with a grunt, and carried her back to the bed. She was lighter than she looked, but he almost dropped her anyway. "You stay here and rest. The nurse is on our side, just push the call button if you need her. I'll go track the monster."

"Shouldn't take long, she went that way," Sienna said, gesturing towards the hallway.

Tyler sighed. "Promise you'll stay here." Sienna folded her arms. "You can't help me like this! Promise."

"Fine," Sienna said, with an exasperated sigh. She flopped back on the bed. "I promise. But where's my morpher?"

"If I tell you, you'll try to use it," Tyler said.

"But what if someone tries to attack me in here? I'll be a sitting duck." Sienna gave him puppy-dog eyes. "Please? I won't touch it unless someone tries to kill me. Cross my heart."

"Fine. It's here," Tyler said, moving to the bedside table and pulling out a drawer. The belt buckle sat on top of Sienna's folded clothes.

"Thank you." Sienna lay back and shut her eyes.

Tyler left the room, weaving his way through passing doctors and nurses towards the elevator. The trail would start on the roof. He felt a little guilty for not getting started on this sooner, but he'd had to protect the Spring Ninja while she healed Sienna. At least, that was what he told himself.

Melting ice lay in puddles across the hospital roof. Tyler studied it. He couldn't see any tracks. Standing, he turned in a circle. _If I were a monster, where would I hide?_ Probably on the main ship, with the Thinker. Okay, that meant following it to its lair was out. That meant catching it in the act. How many graduate Ninjas lived in this city? Dozens? Hundreds?

The only person he knew to ask was that nurse, but she was already busy. Well, maybe she wasn't the only one . . . He ninja-streaked back to the elevator. Finding Anya might be just as hard as finding the monster, but he was running out of ideas.

***Anahera Forest, Outskirts of Scrimshaw, 5:07 am***

As the sun rose, Anya practiced with her Frost Katana in a clearing. She drew back for one particularly high swing, and pain stabbed through her gut. With a grunt, she doubled over, dropping the sword. In a few seconds, the pain faded, and she caught her breath. Those stupid Spider Drones. She still wasn't sure just what those lasers had done, but it hurt like hell when she moved wrong.

Hearing a whoosh of ninja-streaking, Anya looked around to see Tyler standing behind her. Straightening, she retrieved her sword. Hopefully he hadn't seen her moment of weakness.

"What?" She asked, turning away.

"I need your help."

Anya snorted. "I'll say."

"I can't predict where the monster will strike next. You've been in the school longer than me, you probably know more graduates."

"I was in the loony bin for the last three years, remember? For all I know they've all moved," Anya replied.

"We can try."

Anya could hear Tyler coming closer. She wiped the loam off her katana's blade. "What makes you think I want to help you?"

"To clear your name?"

"I don't care about my name. Sienna not trusting me makes this way more interesting anyway."

"Anya!"

Anya whirled around. Her blade was at Tyler's throat before he could so much as lift a finger. He froze.

"Sorry, did I say we were on first name terms?" She asked.

The sword tip moved as Tyler gulped, and he drew in a slow breath. "I'm asking you for help. If the ice monster is going after old students, your turn will come sooner or later. We've got the same enemy, and we're stronger together."

"I can handle the ice monster," Anya replied, dropping the sword.

"That's why I want you."

"Let me think about it." Anya frowned up at the treetops for about ten seconds. "I've thought about it. No."

"But—"

"If I cross paths with ice creep I'll deal with him, but I don't see why I should help you people. Now scram." She backed up and waved the sword at him. "But hey, I'm feeling generous today, I'll give you a little tip: if I were a monster trying to get rid of all Season Ninjas, I wouldn't worry about veterans while an actual Ranger is vulnerable. You're welcome."

Tyler hesitated for a moment. Whirling, he ninja-streaked back into town as fast as he could go. Anya turned back to the trees. In front of her stood a sapling overgrown with some kind of vine. Striking a fighting stance, she gestured, and the vine froze solid with a crackle.

***Stewart Memorial Hospital, 5:23 am***

Sienna woke up shivering. She'd knocked the blanket off the bed in her sleep. With a sleepy grumble, she slid to the side of the bed and grabbed at it. Her breath clouded the air. Who'd turned off the thermostat?

Then her eyes snapped open as she realized what was actually going on. Sitting up, she fumbled with the bedside table drawers, pulling out her morpher. Sleepiness made her clumsy.

"Tyler? Tyler, I think it's back," she said into the morpher. "Hello? Can you hear me through this thing?"

No reply. Hearing a crackling noise, Sienna looked and saw ice growing around the edges of the door. Sienna looked around. No sign of help on the way. She didn't have a choice. Strapping on the morpher, she climbed out of bed. Her left leg almost gave, but she caught herself on the bedside. She'd do better once she was morphed.

"Summer Storm—"

The door burst open, showering Sienna with bits of frozen wood. They nicked her arms as she shielded her eyes. Sienna somersaulted away just in time: a ball of blue-white energy froze the bedside table behind her. Sienna yelled the morph as quickly as she could.

She didn't feel as strong as she'd hoped, but at least she could stand up on her own now. Drawing her Tewhatewha, Sienna deflected a second energy blast. Ice spread across the wall behind her. She finally got a real look at the monster: it was feminine and covered in blue-black ice, from the look of it. Chuckling, it raised one gleaming hand.

"Gotcha," it said, and hurled another volley of ice balls at Sienna. She ducked, but her reflexes were slower than she'd expected. A blast caught her leg, freezing her in place. Quickly, Sienna swung her Tewhatewha to shatter the ice, but another energy ball knocked it clean out of her hands.

"Time to turn up the heat," Sienna said, and gesturing, summoned her heat powers. The air rippled, and the ice around her leg began to melt.

"Oh, come on, that's the oldest quip in the book!" The monster snapped. She held her hands before her chest, summoning more energy between them. "Cool off and think a little—actually, never mind, just have a brain freeze on me!" Sienna ducked most of the shots, but another trapped her arm in a heavy cocoon of ice. She fell to one knee with a grunt, the ice clunking against the floor.

Orange lasers peppered the monster from behind, making it stagger. Tyler appeared in the open doorway, and gave his Autumn Blasters a twirl. Recovering, the monster let out that obnoxious, tinkling giggle again.

"Oh good, I was hoping you'd show up. Ice Age Burst!" It drew out a massive ball of energy and threw it at Tyler.

He somersaulted away, but the energy hit the far wall and exploded, filling the hallway with blue light. As Tyler tried to run, the energy enveloped him, freezing him in place.

"Tyler!" Sienna screamed.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine. Kidding," the monster said, turning back towards her. She struggled, but between her old wounds and the numbness from her trapped limbs, she couldn't focus. "You're both going to die. Nothing personal, I just need to be the only Season Ranger."

"You—" Sienna began, but her attacker cut her off with another laugh.

As the monster raised both hands over Sienna, the far window broke. The White Winter Ranger leaped inside, katana upraised. The blade came down into the back of the monster's neck with a screech like fingernails on a chalkboard. She landed on both feet, her momentum throwing the monster to its knees.

"Sorry, but you're making me look bad. I'm the only one who's allowed to make me look bad, got it?"

Sienna stared in disbelief. "Anya?"

"No, I'm Santa Claus, of course I'm Anya!" She yanked her sword out with a shing, whirled it and slashed at the monster's neck. Her blade bounced off, but it left a crack in the monster's shell.

As the monster focused on Anya, Sienna got back to melting herself free. The creature peppered Anya with energy, but she just turned it right back on the monster. Neither of them seemed able to hurt the other.

"Hey, Little Miss Sunshine, could you try cooking the ice princess?" Anya yelled, ducking a swing.

Finally shattering the ice, Sienna drew her Sunbeam Daggers. "It would be an absolute pleasure. Solar Slash!"

The monster swung around just as Sienna brought the blazing blades down across her chest. The ice splintered, and the monster screamed as it exploded. As it died, a wave of blue energy washed over the room and out the hall. All of the ice it had created shattered, sparkling into nothing. Freed, Tyler stumbled and caught himself on the wall. Sienna landed on one knee, panting.

"Power down," Tyler said, coming back into the room. Sienna followed suit, and he caught her as she stumbled. Ow. She'd ruptured some of her bruises, and blood stained her hospital gown. Tyler helped her back to the bed.

"Thanks," Tyler said, looking up at Anya. He gave Sienna an expectant look. She avoided his gaze, but he kept staring at her.

"I'm . . . sorry for suspecting you," she said, not making eye contact.

"Don't worry, next time you'll probably be right," Anya said, not even looking at the two. Sheathing the sword, she climbed out the window, crunching broken glass underfoot. Now that she had time to look, Sienna saw the fire escape just beside the window.

"Hey, wait!" Tyler protested, starting to follow, but Anya was already gone.

Sienna sighed. "I don't think your girlfriend wants to be chased all over the city."

"She's not—never mind," Tyler said, turning away from the window. "Stay here while I find a doctor."

"I don't need a doctor."

"Yes, you do," Tyler said firmly, and walked out. With a weary groan, Sienna flopped back on the bed.

***Trivia***

The monster's name is Glacia, but I only came up with that just now, since I've been having too many nameless monsters recently, but couldn't find a good place to insert the name, what with the "pretending to be Anya" thing.


	24. Chapter 24: Fissure

Disclaimer: The show belongs to Saban, the submitted OCs to their original creators.

_Last time we saw the Terra and Shinobi Rangers: After Chris helped Nico save his mother from the Obsidian Ranger (recognizing him as his brother), the villains plotted to turn Nico and Chris against each other._

***February 13th, Olino Pub, Castle Ridge, 9:44 pm***

"Twenty-one?" The bouncer looked Nico up and down and laughed. "Sure." Behind him, muffled music, the sound of a game on TV and conversation carried out of the bar. It was a crowded night.

"Look," Nico started, fumbling for his ID, "Just ask Link, he'll—"

"Link's off-duty tonight. Get out of here," the bouncer said. When Nico pulled the ID out, he rolled his eyes. "Don't even bother."

The bouncer moved to slap it out of Nico's hand, but Nico caught him by the wrist. The man's smile faded a little. He was a full head taller than Nico, and the teenager couldn't even wrap his fingers all the way around his wrist.

"You want to start something?" The man asked, starting to get serious.

At that point, a blond man a little older than Nico slid between the two, putting a hand on either's shoulder.

"Getting into another fight?" He asked Nico in an amused, weary way, as if he'd done it before.

Realizing what the stranger was doing, Nico let go of the bouncer and looked sheepish. "Sorry."

"He's my cousin," the stranger went on, to the bouncer. "Just this once? I'll keep an eye on him, he'll be 21 in a couple of months, plus it's been a rough week." He said something else in a low voice, and the bouncer nodded slowly, looking more sympathetic.

"Don't start anything," he said to Nico, and stepped aside. Putting a hand on Nico's shoulder, the stranger guided him into the pub.

"For future reference, I told him your Dad got hospitalized in a monster attack and lost his job," the stranger said to him.

"Thanks," Nico said to the blond, as he let go. "Why'd you do that?"

"Easier than trying to find someone willing to answer my questions," the stranger replied, grinning. He held out a hand. "Alex Slater. I'm new in town."

Nico shook it. "Nico Ramirez. You're here with the scientists?"

"The what?"

"We've been getting a lot of researchers and scientists, what with the monster attacks," Nico replied. A waitress slid past, and Nico backed up to give her room. Alex sat in a booth, and after a moment, Nico joined him.

"Really? I'd have thought people would try to get away," Alex said.

Nico shrugged. "Some are, but there are plenty of people who'd love to figure out how these creatures operate. Military, mostly, but I think there are a couple of Power Ranger fanboys."

"Makes sense," Alex said, nodding. "But wouldn't most of them go to California?"

Nico paused. "There are other Rangers in California?"

"Yeah, three of them, Red, Yellow and Blue."

Nico sat back. There were other Rangers out there? They might be able to help—assuming they weren't busy with their own problems.

"Funny how the guys here don't seem to match," Alex said, interrupting his train of thought. "The uniforms, I mean—though now that I think about it, they don't seem that coordinated."

"Probably because only the Blue one's local. The Silver guy showed up later," Nico said.

Alex's eyebrows shot up. "Then how come he's in charge?"

"In charge?"

Alex laughed. "I'm not exactly one of those Ranger fanboys, but I watched some of the fights before I got here. From what I've seen, Blue does his own thing until Silver tells him otherwise."

Nico sat back. "I guess you've got a point," he admitted, after a minute.

"What's the matter?" Alex was looking at him funny.

Nico shook his head. "Nothing, I'm fine. Just always thought of them more like partners, that's all."

"Sure. Like I said, I'm new; I haven't seen them in person." Glancing over his shoulder, Alex grinned suddenly, and reached across the table to poke Nico's arm. "Check out the twins."

Nico looked, and recognized the two blondes at the bar. "Janelle and Mona Rose. Don't bother unless you're secretly a millionaire."

Alex quirked an eyebrow. "Money isn't everything."

"It is for them." Nico had only run across the pair a couple of times, and they'd always been hanging out with Angela Giry, so naturally they turned their noses up at him.

"Watch and learn." Standing, Alex casually strolled over to the couple. After a moment's hesitation, Nico shrugged and followed him.

***February 13th, Korassil's Ship, Prison Deck, 9:58 pm***

Korassil waited for the Kelzak Berserks to unlock the cell door. Aside from the dim lights in the walls, a cold, pale violet light pulsed from inside the cell itself. With a rumble, the door opened, and Korassil entered.

A glowing force field split the cell in half. The far side looked like a geode, covered in sprouting crystals. A young woman sat in their midst, knees tucked up to her chest and head bowed. Her Terra Ninja uniform had torn as more crystals sprouted through her skin.

"I think you've paid for destroying the Jewel Morpher, Angela," Korassil said. The girl didn't react. "It's time to introduce the rest of the world to the Crystalis."

At the last word, she twitched. Slowly, she lifted her head to look at him through tangled hair. The left side of her face was almost entirely covered with crystalline growths. Her eye had turned into a diamond.

***February 14th, Ramirez House, Castle Ridge, 7:43 am***

Nico was woken up by a ringing phone. He groaned and rolled over. His head pounded, his stomach felt like it was trying to wriggle up into his chest, and he had a bad taste in his mouth. Opening his eyes, Nico immediately squeezed them shut again, burying his face in the pillow. Too bright, too bright.

"Nico? Phone!" His Mom called. Nico groaned, and heard the door open. He peeked up to see her already dressed for work. She threw the phone at him, and it bounced off his shoulder. With an exasperated sigh, she slammed the door and walked away.

Fumbling, Nico sat up and got the phone to his ear. "What?"

"We've got a new monster. Get to the middle of town."

"Yes, your highness," Nico mumbled.

"What?"

"Never mind, I'm coming." He hung up before the Silver Ranger could say anything else. Looking down, he saw that he was still fully dressed, except for his shoes. With a groan, he went to get them, and almost tripped over his own feet. What had he done last night? Oh yeah. In spite of the hangover, Nico grinned. Hopefully Alex would stick around for a while.

***Financial District, Castle Ridge, 7:56 am***

Chris heard the faint whoosh of ninja-streaking behind him. He crouched in the middle of the road, looking down at a prone, moaning man in a grey suit. Other civilians lay scattered across the road among overturned and crashed cars. Sirens wailed in the distance.

"What's going on?" Nico asked, from behind Chris.

"See for yourself." Chris stood, and Nico looked.

One of the man's hands was covered in blue crystals. As the two Rangers watched, they grew up his arm, ripping his sleeve apart as they swelled. Nico backed up a step.

"Oh," Nico said, sounding disgusted. He looked around, performed a double take, and whirled, dropping into a fighting stance.

Chris looked. In the middle of the road stood a young woman. Her brown hair hung around her face in disheveled tangles, and her Terra Ninja uniform was torn and dirty, exposing patches of crystals. Her body was so overgrown that it almost looked like a layer of jeweled armor.

"Angela?" Nico asked, sounding incredulous. She raised a hand, and started walking towards the Rangers, slowly, like a zombie. "What did Korassil _do_ to you?"

Abruptly, Angela darted forward, grabbing at Nico. He ducked, and she bumped into a light pole. At her touch, crystals sprouted up and down the post. Drawing a handful of throwing stars, Chris backed up, making a mental note to avoid touching the monster. With a grating snarl, she swung around, facing Nico.

"Kill," she growled, barely sounding human, and advanced on him again.

"Just you try it," Nico said. "Terra Bo!"

He swung the weapon, but she caught it with both hands. Blue crystals crackled down it, and Nico hastily threw the weapon down. She laughed, voice rasping like concrete blocks rubbing together, and took another swing at him. He ducked.

"Great—why don't I have any ranged weapons?" Nico had to somersault away. He looked to Chris. "Any time now!"

The Silver Ranger hurled a handful of shuriken at the monster. They sparked against her stony shell, and she staggered.

"You know her?" He asked Nico.

"Jewel Ninja," Nico replied.

As he spoke, the monster backed up a few steps, raised one rocky fist, and slammed it into the pavement. The ground rumbled, and cracks splintered out from the impact. More crystals burst from the ground at the impact, spiderwebbing across the street. Chris sprang aside in the nick of time. In the Rangers' distraction, Angela turned and ran away, vanishing into an alley.

"Get back here!" Nico ran after her, but Chris caught him by the shoulder.

"Wait—we need a plan."

"How about destroy the monster and make the bad crystals go away?" Nico suggested.

"But it's not a monster, we might hurt her if we don't do this right, and we can't leave these people in danger to hunt her down," Chris said, gesturing to the infectees scattered around the street.

"Stop giving me orders! Who put you in charge, anyway?" Nico snapped.

"Nico—"

"And there's another thing. You know my identity, even my phone number somehow, but I don't know yours. Where's the logic in that?"

Chris threw up his hands in exasperation. "We don't have time for this!"

"You know what? You're right." Nico smacked his hand aside and ninja-streaked away.

"Blue Ranger!" Chris almost ran after him, but he stumbled. His left foot felt like pins and needles, and when he looked down, he saw a clump of whitish crystals gleaming on his ankle. Apparently he hadn't been _quite_ in the nick of time.

As the ambulances finally arrived, clustering at the end of the street, Chris watched Nico zip away into the city. With an exasperated growl, he turned back to the injured. Fine, he told himself, he worked better alone anyway. He counted fifteen (other) infected people, plus a few patches of crystal growing on cars and other inanimate objects.

"Don't touch the crystals!" He called to the oncoming paramedics. "They're contagious!"

The paramedics obeyed, and soon the situation seemed to be under control. Chris got out of the way. They needed to find the monster first—usually destroying it made whatever damage it caused automatically vanish.

At that point, a hand tapped him on the shoulder. Chris looked around, and saw a woman in her mid-thirties looking at him. Silently, she pointed to his foot, and he nodded.

"I saw," he said.

"The labs are already working on a treatment," the woman said. "Can you come with me, please?"

Chris didn't have any other options, so he went. Quietly, he summoned the Tigerzord to the outskirts of town. He had a feeling he'd be needing it sooner or later.

***Korassil's Ship, 10:11 am***

"Progress?" Alex asked, walking onto the bridge.

"Crystalis is entering her final form," Korassil replied, gesturing to the console screen. The monster had found a quiet alley corner, cocooned herself in crystal, and was quietly growing inside it.

"Great. Any chance she'll actually kill one of the Rangers?"

"Possible, but unlikely. She's serving her purpose regardless. You did well last night," Korassil said.

Alex grinned. "I'll say. So we'll use my other plan if things go badly for Crystalis?"

"Perhaps." Korassil didn't look at him.

Alex half-smiled. "Still don't like my idea, do you? But you don't have a better one, you said so yourself."

Korassil said nothing, merely watched the screen as Crystalis finished sealing herself away.

"Anyway, I just had another idea. Teleport me about a street away from Nico, I think I'll earn a little more of his trust."

With a nod of acknowledgement, Korassil hit the teleport. Alex vanished.

A few seconds later, Korassil heard the Obsidian Ranger's voice coming through the speakers. He switched to a different nanocam view, and saw Alex talking to the Blue Ranger.

". . . Down that alley, I saw it, that weird jewel zombie girl." Alex sounded out of breath.

"Show me."

Alex led the Blue Ranger back to Crystalis. Korassil noted that he took the long way, so that by the time they found the cocoon, it was already starting to crack.

"Thanks, you need to get out of here," Nico said, and nodding, Alex bolted. Another crack appeared on the cocoon with a loud pop. "Right. Cougarzord!"

***Mortimer Labs, Castle Ridge, 10:32 am***

Silently, Chris watched the scientists work. There were a lot of them: the newly-arrived scientists and monster analysts seemed to have been waiting for a chance like this. He'd stayed morphed, and the doctors occasionally stopped by to examine the crystal growth on his foot. It was spreading much more slowly than the civilians' infections—and it wasn't really hurting him either, unlike them. All of the infectees had had to be sedated.

"I think I've got something," a woman called, as she stopped stirring a pale blue formula. Several other scientists converged on her, collecting samples to test elsewhere. This was the fifth time something like this had happened, and it always ended with a failed test.

This time, though, the technobabble sounded hopeful. After a couple of minutes, one of the scientists walked up to Chris.

"If you don't mind," he began, but Chris just waved a hand and set his foot on the table. The scientist dripped a little of the blue stuff on the clump of crystals.

At first, nothing seemed to happen. Then the crystal began to hiss and bubble. It started to smoke, and it boiled away like butter on a hot griddle. Chris could feel the heat through his boot, but it wasn't really painful. In a few seconds, the crystals were all gone—along with part of Chris's boot. His exposed, red skin burned.

"Feel anything?" The man asked, checking the burn.

"Stings a little, but otherwise, no," Chris said. "Can I have some of this? I think we can use it to fight the monster."

"Of course." The scientist handed him a flask of the stuff, almost spilling as a rumble shook the city. Springing to his feet, Chris ran to the window. Sure enough, he saw the Cougarzord bounding over the buildings towards the downtown area. Shaking his head, Chris climbed out the window and ninja-streaked away.

Landing on a roof, he surveyed the situation. Crystalis was entirely covered in jewel-like armor now. The Cougarzord slashed and clawed at it, but its claws skittered off the crystals. They looked as hard as diamond. More crystals had already infected the Cougarzord, but its constant movement kept knocking them off.

Chris looked down at the formula in his hand, and then back up at the monster. Then he hit the intercom.

"Nico?"

"Oh, you're back." Nico sounded annoyed and out of breath. "What is it?"

"I've got an antidote for the crystals. Try to hold her off while I get my Zord."

As the Tigerzord came, Chris eyed the monster. The heart was probably the best place. In a few seconds, the Tigerzord leaped over a skyscraper, landing in the street beside Chris. He sprang into the cockpit.

"Tigerzord, Warrior Mode!"

_The Tigerzord rises on its hind legs. All of its limbs rotate on the body, becoming more humanlike. Hands unfold from its forepaws, under the claws. Its head snaps forward, and its jaw drops to expose a humanlike face. Its tail splits off and transforms into a katana, which it catches and swings._

Formula in hand, the Tigerzord advanced on Crystalis. Seeing him, it seized the Cougarzord in a headlock and swung it around, but the Tigerzord stepped back to avoid it.

"Let's hope this works," Chris said. Hauling back, the Zord pitched the formula like a baseball. The flask shattered against the monster's chest, right on target. Immediately, the liquid soaked into the armor, hissing and steaming. The monster backed up, looking down at its chest in confusion.

"Now, Nico!" Chris yelled.

"Bobcat Blades Power Sphere!" Nico shouted. His Zord roared, and the Power Sphere flew out of its mouth, opening to reveal a set of curving blades. They flew at Crystalis's new weak spot, and three blades struck home. As explosions shattered its armor from within, the monster screamed and collapsed, shrinking as it did.

Nico leaped out of the Zord, and ran to the center of the smoky debris. Chris was a second behind. As they came closer, he saw the crumpled body in the middle of the blackened crystals, and slowed to a halt. His heart sank.

Crouching, Nico checked for a pulse, but he didn't need to. Nobody could lose that much blood and live. The body teleported away in a flash, and Nico stood up.

"It wasn't her anymore," he said, after a moment. "The crystals destroyed her mind before she started fighting."

"You don't know that," Chris said.

"Shut up!" Nico snapped, whirling on him. "I actually knew her, remember?"

"What's gotten into you lately?"

"Let's just say someone pointed out how much you've been dominating us," Nico said.

"Someone—you told someone else your identity?"

"No, but why would it matter if I did? I mean, I don't even know _your_ identity," Nico said accusingly.

Chris threw up his hands. "You are insufferable!"

"Likewise."

"You know what? Fine! Work alone if you want! I don't want to have to deal with you—don't expect me to save you again!" Chris snapped.

"Please, I don't need you," Nico retorted. He walked back to the Cougarzord, and shaking his head, Chris returned to the Tigerzord.

***Korassil's Ship, 10:51 am***

Korassil ended the transmission. He turned back to the woman standing between her guards. Master Antoinette Giry of the Metal Ninjas looked on in silence, her expression stony. Alex, standing nearby, came forward.

"The Crystalis was curable. The Rangers shouldn't have had to kill your daughter. I'm sorry," Alex said quietly.

Giry simply drew in a slow breath. "You should be."

"I did what I had to. The Rangers didn't," Korassil said. "They killed her out of convenience."

Giry said nothing. Crossing the room, Alex conferred with Korassil for a moment. Then he turned back to Giry.

"You're a teacher at this school; you must know at least a few ninjas more worthy to use these morphers. If you can take the morphers back from these two, Korassil will let you choose who to wield them."

After a long minute, Giry looked him in the eye, and nodded once. Korassil gestured, and the foot soldiers stepped away from the ninja.

"Very good. Come: we have to plan our counterattack."

**Trivia**

I was originally planning for the morpher-destroying Jewel Ninja to be a cameo for one of the submitted OCs I didn't accept, but then I decided that this was going to be Korassil's punishment, and that it was too nasty to inflict on someone else's OC without asking.


	25. Chapter 25: Backwards and Upside-Down

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers or the submitted characters.

_Last time we saw the Earthlight Rangers: Xumara captured and turned one of the Zord technicians into a monster, in order to allay the Rangers' suspicions about a traitor. It worked. However, Micky had witnessed Xumara's attack, and sought out Rat to sell the information._

***February 18th, Xumara's Ship, Palencia Airspace, 11:03 am***

Xumara frowned at the viewscreen. Now that she'd switched back to street view, she could see Rat talking to another scrawny kid, though her nanocams weren't close enough to pick up the sound.

"What are you so interested in, Green Ranger?" she asked softly. They zoomed in closer to see Rat hand the street urchin a wad of bills. The younger boy counted them.

"Thanks. I've got to go tell the others," Rat said, turning towards the base.

Xumara shook her head. "I don't think I want you to do that. Zart!" The bald man had just returned to the room. He was grinning.

"Your simulation deck needs better fire safe—"

"Go find Schizofreak and tell him to attack the Green Ranger, hurry!"

"I'm not your slave!" Zart grumped, folding his arms.

"Go!" Xumara gestured, and Zart left.

***Earthlight Zord Hangar, Palencia, 11:08 am***

"How long do you think Lewis was under Xumara's control?" Jess asked Delgado, as they walked back towards the trapdoor. Wyatt lagged behind.

"I couldn't say. He's been behaving oddly for a while, but that could be mind control or just stress."

"Maybe we can ask him when he's feeling better," Wyatt put in.

"I guess," Jess said, with a sigh. "Well, at least we caught him before he could do any real damage."

"For all we know," Delgado replied.

"Yeah." Jess started to climb, and Wyatt followed a second later. As they climbed, something thudded heavily above them. Jess paused, listening. Waves of eerie laughter carried down towards them.

"What was that?" Wyatt asked.

Jess bolted up the ladder, swinging the trapdoor open to see a half-black, half-white monster standing in the middle of the laundromat, cackling manically. It was covered in faces, each contorted into a different emotion, and it wielded a staff topped with buzzing electrodes. Rat lay facedown a few feet away, morphed but unmoving.

"Rat!" She sprang out of the trapdoor, breathing a wave of fire in the monster's direction. He yelped and sprang back, only to start giggling again a second later. Wyatt looked from it to Jess and back, and then ran to his teammates' side.

"Next time, Rangers!" The monster yelled, and vanished.

"Rat, are you okay?" Jess rolled Rat over, but he stopped her.

"Never mind about me, go check on Micky!" He sounded unusually serious.

Jess stared at him. "What?"

"He was in the street before the monster showed up, he might have gotten hurt," Rat replied.

"I thought you didn't like Micky," Wyatt said.

"Go!" Rat shoved Jess away.

"O-okay." The Pink Ranger ran off. Wyatt helped Rat stand. Swaying a little, the younger boy caught himself on a washing machine.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Wyatt asked.

Rat shook his head. "Don't worry about me."

***February 19th, Kai House, Palencia, 6:17 pm***

"I couldn't find the monster anywhere in the city—and there's nothing on the news. He's lying low, for some reason," Jess said, walking into the living room.

"I didn't find anything either," Wyatt replied, from where he sat. "Has Rat come back yet?"

"Come back from where?" Jess sat down.

"I dunno. He just left without saying anything this morning," Wyatt replied.

"Huh. Do you think he's up to something?"

"Like what?"

Before Jess could answer, she heard the front door shut, and looked around. In walked Rat, very dirty, sporting a large black eye and an enormous grin.

"Where were you?" Wyatt asked. "And what happened to your eye?"

"I helped clean up some of the mess left over from the last fight. Everyone around here is really nice, even if they don't speak English," Rat replied. "And the eye's from a purse snatcher. Caught him, though."

"Hold on a second: you were _helping_ people?" Jess asked, staring at him.

Rat looked surprised by her reaction. "Of course. I'm a Ranger now, isn't that my job? I couldn't just walk away and leave someone in trouble when I could do something about it."

"That's never stopped you before," Wyatt replied, looking mostly sincere and rather confused.

Rat rolled his eyes. "You know, maybe instead of making fun of me, you could try it sometime. You'd be surprised how good it feels, and we could definitely use the help. Look, I'm going to wash up and go to bed, okay?"

"Sure, fine," Jess said, a little nonplussed. Rat walked off, carefully avoiding the furniture or the carpets.

As his footsteps thudded up the stairs, Jess snapped her fingers. "A personality switch monster! That must be it!"

"Oh. I guess that makes sense," Wyatt said.

"Destroying the monster will probably undo it—oh," Jess said, sounding suddenly worried. "Maybe we shouldn't."

"Jess, that's not very nice," Wyatt said, sounding surprised.

"Come on, tell me you wouldn't like having someone who actually goes out and helps people when he doesn't have to more than a wimp who only fights when he can't run," Jess replied.

"That would be better," Wyatt admitted. "But I still don't like talking about Rat behind his back."

Jess flopped back in the chair. "Yeah, I know, I was just joking."

Unbeknownst to her or Wyatt, Rat was listening behind the door. As the topic changed, he tiptoed down the hall and out the front door. He'd only stopped in to keep the others from worrying and looking for him, and so he could get Ben Lewis's address.

Eventually, Rat found the street. There were still blots of inky stuff in the cobblestones: he crouched down and picked up a pinch of it, rubbing it between his fingers. It was thick and sticky, like tar.

"I knew I'd find you here," an all-too-familiar screechy voice said. Rat whirled, striking a fighting stance as Schizofreak stepped out of the shadows. "Can't endanger your teammates by letting them investigate with you, can you?"

"I don't need their help to take you down," Rat replied.

The monster cackled. "Prove it."

"Gladly."

***Jess's Room, Kai House, 7:36 pm***

Jess rolled over, and looked out the window towards the bay. The moon was just a faint sliver, casting glittery reflections on the water. It was so thick with boats that the masts looked like a rippling forest. Nearer, she could make out the pointy rooftops of historic buildings all cluttered together.

Jess frowned. Why couldn't she sleep? Was it Rat's personality change? She'd only been half-joking about not turning him back, and she did feel a little bit guilty about that. A little. This whole situation was weird and messed up. Going to the window, she opened it and leaned on the sill, shutting her eyes and letting the sea breeze flow over her. Jess made a face: it smelled like fish. Ugh.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw an orange flash. Intrigued, she looked. Sure enough, another faint bang and flash rang out. Her eyes widened, and she ducked back inside, slamming the window shut.

"Wyatt!" She ran down the hall and hammered on his door. It opened before she expected, and she accidentally clocked Wyatt in the forehead. He staggered, clutching his head.

"Sorry, I just realized—Rat's gone out there to fight alone!"

"He what?"

"Come on!" Wyatt just had time to grab his morpher before Jess seized him by the arm. She dragged him down several flights of stairs and out the front door. In the middle of the street, she paused, and looked around. Something green glowed over the rooftops, and Jess ran towards it. Wyatt wrenched out of her grip, and strapped on his morpher. Jess followed suit.

"Earthlight Storm, Ranger Form!"

***Darkside Avenue, Palencia, 7:57 pm***

Rat had locked weapons with the monster, trying to force him back. His suit was blackened and smoking from other hits, but he wasn't even slowing down. His fierce glare was clear even through his tinted visor.

"Just give up," the Green Ranger growled, through gritted teeth. "I'm not going to."

"Big words for a little kid," Schizofreak replied. "The beard doesn't make you a grown-up."

"How about this, then?" Whirling, Rat roundhouse-kicked the monster, following it up with a volley of punches and hits. The creature staggered back.

"Rat!"Jess yelled, and Schizofreak looked up as the other two Rangers rounded the corner.

He cackled. "Your turn, Pinky!"

Shoving Rat away, Schizofreak whirled his staff and fired a white lightning bolt at her. She ducked, but not fast enough, and froze in place as the energy enveloped her. Skidding to a halt, Wyatt looked over at her.

"Jess? Are you okay?"

"Run," she managed.

"Oh." Wyatt did run, ducking behind a row of boxes as the monster fired at him. The electricity didn't even shake the boxes; in fact, the waves bounced off and faded into nothingness.

"No!" Rat yelled, leaping between the monster and the Crimson Ranger. The lightning struck him squarely in the chest. He dropped to one knee, and looked around in bewilderment.

"What have I been—oh no, monster!" Quickly, he scrambled away, but Schizofreak tsked.

"Back to normal? Can't have that, can we?" He blasted Rat in the back, and he dropped to his knees with a yell.

Wyatt's head popped up from behind a pile of crates. "Did you just fix him? Is that how we switch back?"

Jess had sat down on the spot she'd been blasted. She didn't look hurt, but she wasn't getting up either. The way she leaned back and looked around at the street, she almost looked bored. Slipping out of his shelter, Wyatt crawled to her and shook her shoulder. "Jess, are you okay?"

She swatted his hands away. "Leave me alone."

"Okay, but I think it'd be better if you helped us beat up the monster," Wyatt replied.

"Just go away!"

"But—" Wyatt as interrupted by a blast of white lightning. He arched his back as Schizofreak cackled.

"All three of them, just like that! This job is too easy!" With a yell, Rat seized his arm, jerking it aside. Out of the blast, Wyatt stumbled a little, but caught himself on a nearby wall. Rat drove a series of knee strikes into the monster's body, clinging to the staff with both hands.

"Hands off the staff!" Schizofreak yelled. He swung back and threw Rat against a wall, and the Green Ranger crumpled.

A breathless silence fell. Schizofreak looked around at the three Rangers, the end of his staff glowing green. Wyatt had tensed to fight, Rat looked stunned, and Jess didn't seem to have even noticed what was happening around her. The monster laughed again, and straightened, the light around his staff's electrodes fading.

"My work here is done!" With that, Schizofreak teleported away.

"I really should start paying closer attention to my surroundings," Wyatt said, abandoning his fighting stance. He paused, and looked down at himself. "This feels . . . different. I think we should return to base to figure out the full ramifications of this personality-reversing beam."

"Yeah," Rat said, picking himself up. He swayed a little. "I'm okay, I don't need help."

"Was anyone offering?" Jess replied, getting up and dusting herself off. Rat stared at her for a long minute, until she looked over her shoulder at him. "What are you looking at?"

"What's gotten into you?" Rat asked, sounding bewildered.

"None of your business." Turning, Jess started back up the street, demorphing as she walked.

"Hey, wait!" Rat ran after her.

"Fascinating," Wyatt said, stroking the chin of his helmet. As the other two Rangers started to argue, he followed, keeping a little distance between them and himself.

***February 22nd, Historic District, Palencia, 11:07 am***

A puppy stood in the middle of the road, investigating a smelly heap of garbage. Rounding the corner, a large, rickety bus bore down on the dog. As the puppy looked up, a green blur zipped across the street, snatching it up. As the bus rumbled past, Rat stopped up short, panting, and looked down at the dog. It snarled and bit his hand, but he set it down gently.

Jess leaned against a railing, holding a popcorn bag full of unpopped kernels. She pulled one out, tossed it in the air and blew on it. With a crackle of heat, it popped, and she caught it in her mouth.

Wyatt walked up beside her, and leaned on the fence as well. They watched as Rat went back into the road to get rid of the garbage. He didn't even seem bothered; in fact, he whistled the whole time.

"You could help him," Wyatt said. Jess moved away from him a little. She pulled out another kernel, tossed and popped it.

"This is more fun," she said.

"You're showing off."

"Why not?"

"No butter and salt this way," Wyatt pointed out.

Jess nodded, "Yeah, but I like it better."

"Popcorn with no butter tastes like styrofoam. Are you disagreeing seriously, or just to be contrary?"

Jess flicked a kernel at him. Another car nearly missed Rat, and stumbling, he stepped right into what looked unfortunately like manure. There were a lot of horse carriages in the historic district. He laughed, though.

"I still haven't been able to deduce why Schizofreak would reverse our personalities," Wyatt said. "In the cases of Rat and myself, the change appears to have been positive—he has become more heroic, and I vastly more intelligent."

"Why are you talking to me?" Jess said, not taking her eyes off Rat.

"Of course, you seem to be the exception," Wyatt muttered. Louder, he went on, "I suspect Xumara intends for our new personality traits to clash in ways we wouldn't otherwise expect, like Rat being reckless."

"Look, I don't care about Rat or you or this stupid Ranger business!" Jess snapped. "This is my spot, not yours; please kindly shove off and technobabble at someone else?"

With an eyeroll, Wyatt left, heading back up the street. He ducked into an alley beside the Kai house, and glanced around. Seeing he was alone, he moved to the garbage bins. With a quick snatch, he pulled a black beetle-like thing out from behind the nearest bin. It buzzed in his hand as he held it up to his face.

"Xumara," he said, "I've already counted fifteen of your nanocams scattered throughout the house; one word from me, one simple gesture, and the others will destroy them all. Listen. I've got a deal for you. My newfound intelligence has helped me realize just how pointlessly destructive this battle is. Meet me at the docks behind the Xihuitl Fishery tonight—no, strike that: make it the night after tomorrow. We can negotiate then."

He crushed the bug with one clench of his fist. It crackled and fizzled. Casually, Wyatt tossed it into the trash, and walked out of the alley.

***Trivia***

Rat's Sentai counterpart is actually closer to this version of him—still somewhat cowardly, but several of the fights he was just trying to help a civilian and failing.


	26. Chapter 26: Vigilante Intervention

Disclaimer: Still don't own the submitted characters or the universe.

_Last time we saw the Ethereal Ninjas: The trio was hiding in the mountains, Kerri unconscious thanks to her faulty morpher, Easton still recovering from Reggie's interrogation. As the other two fell asleep, Dreamsnare resurrected traumas from their pasts (noting that Easton's was worse than he consciously knew) to terrorize them, but Kerri was able to fend him off._

***February 12th, Tauza's Ship, Japanese Airspace, 9:45 pm***

"Is something bothering you, Reggie?" Tauza asked, from where she stood watching the Snipers pilot. Several screens showed the Ethereal Megazord flying ahead of them. The Megazord was just passing over the black smudges of Japan's westernmost islands.

Reggie sat nearby, fiddling with his suruchin, and at Tauza's words, he looked up. "I don't understand vy ve don't simply blow ze Rangers out of ze sky."

Tauza nodded approvingly. "Fair question. Their next logical course of action would be to get the Diamond Morpher repaired, so they'll go to whoever is capable of creating them, leading us directly to someone who can build a new set of morphers for us—or at least sabotage theirs, perhaps give yours an upgrade."

"I see," Reggie replied, with a grin.

Tauza turned towards him, looking him up and down. Her face wasn't very expressive, but her brow furrowed slightly.

"How long have you been awake?"

Reggie twirled one of the suruchin's metal balls, not looking at her. "I'm fine."

"More than likely we'll engage in battle some time tomorrow, and you should be prepared," Tauza replied. "You should rest."

Reggie shrugged and rose, coiling the suruchin cord. "If you insist. Oh, I almost forgot—can ve do somezing about ze teleport system? It vould be more effective if ve could teleport people here by force."

"Another reason to find someone with the technological prowess to build morphers. The ship's original architect is long gone."

"Fine. Good night, zen." He turned, waved and walked off the bridge.

***February 13th, Ōme,** **Tokyo Metropolis, Japan, 7:08 pm***

Shotaro Ishinomori sat at his desk, looking over a blueprint. He lowered his glasses, so he could see through the top halves of his bifocals. He shook his head, speaking Japanese.

"First cellphones, now sunglasses. What's next, gun morphers? Action figures?" Then he paused. His wrinkled brow furrowed. "That's actually an intriguing idea." Opening a drawer, he drew out a notepad and jotted it down in spidery hiragana.

Someone banged hard on the front door, and Ishinomori looked up. He sighed in exasperation, and put the plans away, locking the drawer. The knocking continued.

"Ishinomori!" A man shouted from outside. "Open the door!"

Ishinomori padded bare-footed across the carpet, and opened the door. There stood several large men in cheap suits. The smallest and meanest-looking one stepped forward, arms folded, and glared at the older man.

"Mr. Owada wants his money."

"I don't remember Mr. Owada doing anything for me," Ishinomori replied.

"Let me remind you," the other man replied, and snapped his fingers. One of the thugs behind him held up a crowbar and smashed in one of Ishinomori's windows. Glass tinkled to the floor inside, and the man stepped back once more.

Ishinomori merely quirked a bushy eyebrow. "As I told Mr. Owada before, I don't need his 'protection.' Please go away and never return."

"You're going to be sorry," the man in charge warned.

Ishinomori's gaze flicked up towards the roof of the opposite building. Just for a second, he glimpsed what looked like a queue of black hair ripple behind a chimney. Returning his attention to the thugs, he merely stepped back inside.

"Please don't return. Your repetitiveness is becoming very tiresome." He closed his door on the men, shook his head, and went back to his work. He'd clean up the broken glass later. Right now he had to work out how to fit morphing technology into a pair of sunglasses.

Not fifteen minutes later, Ishinomori heard voices—not Owada's men, teenagers. With an irritated mutter, he put everything back. But as he paid closer attention to the sound, he paused. They were speaking English.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" A girl asked, in a dubious tone.

"This is the address we had in the files," a boy replied, though he too sounded uncertain.

"How about we check instead of standing around talking?" A second girl, this one with what sounded like a Scottish or Irish accent, said. There was a firm knock on the door.

Ishinomori rose again, putting everything away. He still didn't like the sound of this, but at least it was a new interruption. Walking to the door, he opened it, and saw three Caucasian teenagers in battered but unmistakable Ethereal Ninja uniforms. They exchanged looks, and the boy stepped forward, giving a quick bow.

"Judging by the state of your uniforms, and the fact that you've come unannounced, I'm guessing this isn't just a friendly visit, Easton Lewis," Ishinomori said. The teenager looked surprised. "Sensei Ngapoi's told me a lot about you. I suspected you'd become a Ranger someday. Who are these two?"

"These are Susana Callaghan, and Kerri Long," the boy said, gesturing to each of his companions in turn. "The Diamond Morpher is damaged." The black-haired girl beside him fumbled in her pocket, and drew out a familiar white ball banded with gold. Ishinomori took it, and ran a thumb over the crack. "We were hoping you could repair it, since it's your work."

After a moment's study, Ishinomori nodded once, and stepped back out of the doorway.

"Come in and explain how you broke it. I imagine it's a long story," he said, not taking his eyes off the morpher. "Oh, and mind the broken glass."

"What happened to your window?" Susana asked, as the trio avoided the mess.

"Local thugs trying to force me into a protection racket. It's nothing," Ishinomori said with a dismissive gesture, sitting down at his desk once more.

The trio exchanged looks, sitting on the floor behind the man.

"We can deal with them for you," Easton offered.

"That won't be necessary," Ishinomori replied, examining the Diamond Morpher under a magnifying glass.

"Well, we are the Power Rangers, dealing with bad guys is kind of our thing," Kerri said, with a little laugh.

"They've already been dealt with."

Kerri cocked her head to one side, charms jingling. "Huh?"

"Check the television. The news is on channel eleven," was all Ishinomori said. He nodded to the little TV perched on a nearby shelf.

After a moment of awkward hesitation, Susana stood and turned the television on. They found the news almost immediately—a woman stood in front of a cordoned-off section of street, talking very quickly in Japanese.

"Archer? Is that what she said?" Kerri asked. "I heard her say Archer."

"That's what it sounded like," Susana replied. She sucked in a sharp breath as the camera changed view, showing what was behind the police tape. Several men lay scattered across the street, arrows sticking out of their bodies.

"What is it?" Kerri asked. "I don't echolocate well with cheap TV's."

Ishinomori snorted. "Echolocate?"

"I'm basically blind as a bat without my glasses. Cataracts, see?" Kerri pointed to her clouded eyes. Ishinomori didn't quite know how to respond to that.

". . . I think you heard the 'archer' part right," Easton said at last.

"That's what she calls herself," Ishinomori said. "She's been hunting down criminals for about . . . almost six months now."

"Should I be impressed or terrified?" Susana asked, after a moment.

"Unless you intent to embark on a life of crime, you have no reason to fear her. Now, can we please get back to the business at hand?"

"Right," Easton said, switching the TV off. "Have you ever heard of a space ninja named Tauza?"

***February 14th, Kabe Station, Ōme,** **3:14 am***

"I'm sorry," the man begged in Japanese, scrambling back until he hit the wall. He was almost crying, and his once-fine suit was torn and dirty. "Please, I'll give you anything you want, just don't hurt me!"

Archer stepped forward, kicking aside a briefcase. A train roared past, snatching paper yen out of the briefcase and scattering them in the air like confetti. The same wind tugged at the animal skins she wore as clothing, and her long black queue of hair. Around her lay the bodies of the old man's bodyguards, each killed with a single arrow—except for one, pinned to a wall by his coat. Gazing down at the grey-haired man, Archer pulled an arrow out of the quiver on her back. Police sirens wailed in the distance.

"A few months ago, I helped a chef get rid of a set of thugs, like the men who work for you, Owada," she said in the same language, running a finger down the shaft. "In exchange, he gave me a batch of bad fugu, which I used to poison arrows like this one."

She set the arrow on the string, and drew back. "I save them for the scum who deserve to suffer. I've gotten a wide variety of reactions to it—mental impairment, vomiting, paralysis, seizures, suffocation—although nearly all of them stay conscious, even lucid, to the bitter end. Death will be a blessing when it arrives."

"Please," the man pleaded. "I-I'll go straight, I swear!"

"And why should I trust the word of a rat like you?" Archer asked.

"I'll turn myself in! For pity's sake—"

"Pity?" Archer let out a harsh laugh. "You'll get the same pity you showed to the Tomoe family, or Kaname Gotou, or Kita Akemi." She closed one eye, taking aim at the man's left hand as he cringed.

Then she hesitated. The police sirens grew louder, and the lights glittered in the distance. The fifty-some man sobbed like a child, curled up to shield himself. With a horrible start, she realized she'd enjoyed the mob boss's groveling. She'd gone too far, again. Drawing in a sharp breath, she lowered the bow.

Owada noticed, and looked up at her with wide, unblinking eyes. A police car rounded the corner, and men spilled out the doors, drawing guns. Archer glanced at them, and then back at her prisoner. He was starting to look relieved—drawing back a leg, she front-kicked him directly in the face, feeling his nose break under her foot. He fell back with a howl, clutching his bleeding face.

"Count yourself lucky," Archer said, putting her arrow back in its quiver. "If you cause any further trouble, this arrow has your name on it."

She turned back to the one other living crook, suspended partway up the wall by her arrow through the back of his coat. He froze as she faced him. Reaching up, Archer ripped the arrow out, letting him drop to the pavement.

"Make this your last, as well as your first, crime. Don't let me see you with this kind of trash again."

As one of the cops shouted for her to stand down, Archer crouched and leaped, catching an overhanging balcony. With the grace of a gymnast, she flipped herself onto the balcony and leaping from there to the roof, sprinting away from the alley.

Owada dealt with, Archer headed away from Tokyo. The criminal underground had to have gotten word of her by now; she could turn in early and let them squirm for the rest of the night. She'd slipped with Owada, and didn't want to risk doing it again. A break would help clear her head.

As she reached the outskirts of the district, Archer paused on the roof of Ishinomori's house. She'd been monitoring the place, to make sure Owada's men didn't try to retaliate against the man. It was quiet and peaceful.

Just as Archer was about to leave, she heard a soft thunk. Freezing in place, she studied the dark street below. Ishinomori's door was ajar, swinging in the breeze. Something was wrong here. As she watched, the door creaked open.

Archer nocked an arrow to the string and fired into the doorway. The arrow vanished, and something heavy thumped against the doorpost. Just for a moment, Archer saw violet scales gleaming in the darkness, and black blood around the shaft of her arrow. Then it vanished again, and Ishinomori appeared out of nowhere, crumpling to the ground.

Archer stood, drawing a second arrow, and looked around for the distortion. She heard a faint patter, like footsteps, and whirled—only to get smacked in the face by something thick and scaly. She stumbled back, dropping the arrow, and the invisible creature slashed at her midsection. Razor-sharp claws gashed her bare stomach, and she doubled over with a grunt of pain.

Before the monster could move in for the kill, Archer somersaulted forward, snatched her arrow up again, and had it on the string. Swiveling, she fired, and again saw a flash of scales as the arrow struck home, far too close to her. The creature slammed bodily into her, knocking her flat.

"You're in my way," a cold, reptilian voice hissed, as Archer struggled to free herself. She saw the outline of a three-clawed talon rise over her head.

Before it could drop, a volley of shuriken struck the monster's limb, drawing sparks and spurts of black blood. The monster reared back, giving Archer enough room to wriggle free. As she found her footing again, the creature became fully visible: a six-limbed violet lizard the size of a small truck.

Three Power Rangers stepped up on either side of Archer, striking fighting stances.

"Are you all right?" The Gold (and only male) Ranger asked in English, glancing at her.

Archer clamped an arm over her still-bleeding stomach wounds, and nodded. She'd been in worse pain, but didn't feel up to speaking just yet.

"Projection Blade! We'll take care of this guy," the Sapphire Ranger said, drawing a sword from the air.

"Finally!" The Diamond Ranger exclaimed. "Sound Slicers!" A pair of kusarigama appeared in her hands, and she whirled the sickle-like weapons. With a whoop, she charged, slashing at the monster. It slithered out of the way, but she managed to nick its tail.

The Sapphire Ranger followed a second later, running to cut off the lizard's escape. As its tail swung towards her, she leaped over it, stabbing downwards. The energy blade sank into the monster's body, and the lizard howled in agony, double rows of fangs bared.

"Morning Star!" Swinging a spiked club, the Gold Ranger kicked off a chimney and slammed weapon-first into the creature. The resulting burst of fire threw him flat, also downing the monster. It staggered, claws scrabbling on the concrete roof.

As the three Rangers moved in for the kill, however, the monster turned invisible again. The Diamond Ranger kept going, but Sapphire and Gold hesitated. The pause was a mistake. Abruptly, the Gold Ranger was flung off his feet and slammed flat. Archer saw the monster's head outlined against the sky as it reared up over him, jaws wide as if to bite off his head.

In the brief pause, Archer straightened—it hurt, but she gritted her teeth and ignored it—and drew an arrow. Hooking her foot under her bow, she kicked it back into her grip, aimed and fired, all in the time it takes to sneeze.

The arrow whistled over the struggling Gold Ranger and struck the monster in the throat. It turned visible again with an agonized, gurgling howl, and released him. With a whoop, the Diamond Ranger slammed feet-first into the creature, knocking it down. She dropped into a crouch and slashed at it, her Sapphire teammate following suit.

Archer ran forward and caught the Gold Ranger as he started to rise. Pulling him upright with a grunt, she reached back for another arrow, but there was no need. With one final shriek, the purple lizard exploded, showering everyone with violet dust and tarry black blood.

Silence fell as the glittering dust settled. The Diamond Ranger picked herself up, and looked at her messy weapons with a noise of disgust. Catching his breath, the Gold Ranger turned to Archer.

"Thank you. Are you all right?" He asked.

The bleeding wasn't stopping or even slowing down. Archer nodded anyway: she'd taken care of herself before, and she could again. However, the Sapphire Ranger came closer, looking her up and down.

"I don't think so. Come with us, we know someone who doesn't ask too many questions," she said.

Archer shook her head, but the Diamond Ranger caught her by the upper arm. "Don't be stubborn—besides, we owe you for catching the monster before we did."

After a moment's hesitation, Archer nodded, and let the Rangers lead her down the fire escape. She was curious about these new warriors, after all.

***Trivia***

Shotaro Ishinomori is named after the man who basically invented Super Sentai, Kamen Rider and other anime, manga and tokusatsu shows, without whom we would not have Power Rangers.


	27. Chapter 27: Long-Lost Siblings

Disclaimer: I own nothing previously disclaimed.

You know when you get sick, so you put a project off until the next day thinking you'll be feeling better by then, but the next day rolls around and you feel ten times worse? Yeah. Of course, that only covers Wednesday and Thursday; Friday I was well enough to try to write, and then get distracted by RP'ing, which is somewhat easier. Yeah, it's still my fault. Sorry, I'll try to do better next time.

***February 16th, Persephone Café, Scrimshaw, 5:30 pm***

"You don't like cupcakes?" Sienna asked incredulously.

Alice, standing behind the counter, shook her head. Turning, she clipped an order next to the others in front of the kitchen window, so her uncle could see it. Mrs. Parata—Sienna's foster mother—moved to the side, leading Sienna and one of the younger boys out of the way. There weren't any customers behind them, though, so Alice continued the conversation.

"They're pointless substitutes for cake."

"But they're all the same size, and they don't crumble the way cake slices do."

"Trust me, cupcakes are every bit as crumbly. Plus everyone thinks they're so cute, it gets on my nerves," Alice replied.

Sienna sighed. "Too mainstream for you, huh?"

"No, I just don't see what all the fuss is about."

"Alice!" Her uncle shouted, and the redhead ducked into the kitchen. As they waited, Sienna crouched down to the foster boy's level—about her waist height. Like Mrs. Parata, he was Maori, with black hair and dusky skin.

"What do you think, Jonah?" Sienna asked, looking around the café. The younger boy pointed to a brightly-colored mural on one wall, and Sienna grinned. "Yeah, I thought you'd like that, since you're an artist and all."

Jonah looked up at her in surprise. "I noticed you drawing in the treehouse. Don't worry, I didn't peek—but if you'd ever like to show anyone what you drew, I'd love to see it."

Jonah looked down at his sneakers, not saying anything. Sienna stood. Well, it was something, she thought. However, at that point, her morpher let out a weird little blip. Clamping a hand over it, Sienna looked around in quiet alarm. The place was pretty empty, so she moved over to a quiet corner.

"Tyler?" She whispered.

"That Ranger who tried to kill us on the hike is back."

Sienna groaned. "Coming." Hurrying back to her foster family, she thought up a hasty excuse. "I almost forgot to tell you guys, Tyler offered to help me catch up on homework tonight, I was going to go over to his house to do it."

Mrs. Parata quirked an eyebrow. "Tyler again?"

"I'm already late," Sienna said. "Please? Please?"

Mrs. Parata laughed. "It's fine—so long as you do some actual homework."

Sienna beamed, and hugged her foster mother. "Thanks, Whaea!" Mrs. Parata preferred the Maori word—it could mean either aunt or mother, so it worked for most kids. Turning, she darted out the front doors.

***Manticore Studio Lot #4, 5:53 pm***

Anya slammed into a tree of studio lights, taking them down with a loud crash and showers of sparks. Spider Drones advanced on her, lasers blazing, but she rolled away and flipped herself upright. With a breathless laugh, she ran towards the foot soldiers, katana in one hand and the other glowing with icy energy.

"They're not real spiders, they're not real spiders, they're not real spiders," Sienna chanted under her breath, stabbing one of the things between plates on its back. Bright blue liquid spurted from the gash, covering Sienna's visor. With a yelp, she recoiled, swiping at the ooze. While she was blinded, several lasers struck her body, drawing sparks and smoke and flinging her to the ground.

"Sienna!" Tyler shouted, momentarily ceasing fire.

The Red Ranger took advantage of his distraction, and raising his blowgun, fired a volley of darts at Tyler. He heard them and ducked, but several still struck his back. Limping at a run, he stopped behind a wooden crate and kept shooting—one Autumn Blaster aimed at the Ranger, the other at the Spider Drones attacking his teammates.

"Don't mess with these ones, they're mine!" Anya shouted, stabbing a Spider Drone right through the body. Ice crackled around her blade and fixed the foot soldier in place. One good tug, and she freed her sword, shattering the Spider Drone at the same time.

"Got it!"

Setting aside his blowgun, the Red Ranger raised a hand towards Tyler. A torrent of boiling water shot from his palm. Seeing it, Tyler scrambled for new cover, but not quite in time. The geyser slammed into him, sending him skidding across the studio lot.

A Spider Drone loomed over Sienna, lasers warming up. With a yell, Sienna kicked straight up, knocking the foot soldier off-balance. Before it could recover, she rolled and pinned it with a leg.

"Solar Slash!" The golden energy made the Spider Drone explode, sending Sienna back several yards.

As she picked herself up, however, a flicker of moment distracted her from the fight. The Yellow Ranger looked more closely. Her eyes widened under her visor: Jonah was hiding on the edge of the battlefield, watching them. Hearing another Spider Drone clink behind her, Sienna whirled and avoided another blast in the nick of time.

More and more Spider Drones swarmed around Anya. Even though she was fast, she couldn't keep up her momentum forever. Some of the foot soldiers' blasts got through her defenses. One strike to her side made her double over with a muttered curse: it was the same place she'd been hit last time she'd faced these things.

As she staggered back, falling into a pile of balsa crates, Jonah abandoned his hiding place and ran over to her. He started trying to help her up, but she swatted him away, visibly confused. Sienna saw his mouth moving, but the noise of the battle drowned him out. Confused-and worried for him-Sienna started pushing through the monsters, trying to reach the pair.

On the other side of the lot, the geyser finally let up. Tyler lay where he was, panting. Silently, the Red Ranger advanced on him.

"Guys," Tyler managed, pushing himself up on an elbow.

Leapfrogging over another Spider Drone, Sienna landed next to Anya just as the White Ranger opened her visor. She bent down at Jonah's level so he could get a good look. Sienna skidded to a halt, more confused than ever.

"I. Am. Not. Your. Sister!" Jonah flinched as if he'd been slapped. Anya pointed away from the battlefield. "Now get out of here!"

Jonah obeyed, running out of the lot.

"What was that about?" Sienna asked, as Anya shut her visor again.

"Do you want to stand here talking or go help Tyler?" The White Ranger retorted. Not waiting for an answer, she ran off. Realizing what she meant, Sienna charged the Red Ranger.

As the evil Ranger raised his blowgun, aiming at point-blank range, ice formed around the muzzle. Irritated, the Red Ranger gestured at it. As it steamed away, Sienna slammed feet-first into the Ranger from behind, sending him sprawling. The blowgun fell out of his hands, and Anya snatched it up.

As the Red Ranger stood, he teleported away, as did what was left of the Spider Drones. Anya let out a noise of disappointment as the blowgun vanished with its owner. Silence fell over the lot, broken only by faint fizzling from broken floodlights. Catching her breath, Sienna dismissed her daggers and ran to help Tyler up.

"You guys okay?" The Orange Ranger panted.

"Pretty much." Sienna looked in the direction Jonah had run. Anya turned to leave, and the Yellow Ranger noticed. "Hey! I still want to know what was going on between you and Jonah!"

"Ask the kid, I'm out of here," Anya retorted.

Once Tyler was steady, Sienna let go and walked up to Anya. She powered down. "Jonah's been with the Paratas for almost a month, and he barely talks to anyone."

Anya snorted. "Funny. He wouldn't shut up with me."

Seizing Anya by the shoulder, Sienna went to spin her around, but Anya caught her wrist and twisted. It threw Sienna to one knee, but she stifled a grunt of pain.

"Honestly, that was kind of the weirdest thing that's happened to me," Anya said, in a surprisingly thoughtful tone. "The kid was trying to help me up, and he called me Magda. That name mean anything to you?"

"His older sister," Sienna replied tightly. She wrenched herself free and stood up, backing out of Anya's reach. "She basically raised him, until she got hit by a car a month ago."

"I guess that explains the stuff he said about faking my own death."

"What?" Tyler finally joined them. He demorphed as well, and caught himself on a wall. Bruises already darkened on his face and arms. Sienna immediately slid under his shoulder to support him, though she never took her eyes off Anya.

"I think he was trying to adopt me or something," Anya said, and laughed. Sienna went to hit her again, but Anya dodged. "Wow, you are touchy today. I'm out of here."

With that, the White Ranger ninja-streaked away. Sienna almost went after her, but Tyler lost his balance and she had to stop.

"Are you okay?" She asked him.

Tyler nodded. "I think I'll live."

"I need to go find Jonah."

***115 Mistview Drive, 6:20 pm***

"Jonah?" Sienna knocked on the door. Beside her, Travis—one of the other foster kids—hovered anxiously. There was no reply from the boys' room.

"Come on, Jonah, unlock the door, I left my water pistol in there and I'm missing Calvinball!" Travis called.

"Hush, you," Sienna told him. "Jonah, what's wrong?" Still no answer. Sienna sighed. "Jonah, I'm going to have to come in there whether you like it or not. Please let me in. I want to help."

After a full minute of silence, Sienna stood on tiptoe and pulled a key off the door mantel. No sooner did she unlock it than Travis shot inside, digging through his things for the water pistol. Shaking her head, Sienna walked into the room. At first she didn't even see Jonah—then she noticed that the closet door was ajar.

As Travis raced out of the room, Sienna walked to the closet. Now that everything was quiet, she could hear the sound of tearing paper. Poking her head through the hanging clothes, she saw Jonah sitting in the middle of a pile of shredded paper, industriously tearing up a drawing of the White Ranger. Noticing her, he spun around, crumpling the sheet. His face was tear-streaked.

Sienna sat down, completely blanking on what to say. All she knew was that she owed Anya a punch in the face.

"Go away," Jonah said at last.

Sienna sighed. "Want any help?"

Jonah shook his head, turning away.

"I get it, okay?" Sienna said. Jonah paused. "My parents abandoned me when I was a baby. Knowing they'd done it to protect me while they saved the world would be awesome."

"But it's not true. She's not Magda," Jonah said.

Sienna bit her lip. "She's not the only Ranger on the team."

Jonah rolled his eyes. "Orange is a guy, and Yellow's lame."

"What?"

Before Jonah could reply, a hand clamped down on Sienna's shoulder. She looked down, and saw a dark red glove. As she grabbed at it, its owner swung her around and hurled her against the far wall. She cracked the wood, bit her tongue and crumpled, half-stunned.

The Red Ranger reached into the closet and dragged Jonah out. Torn paper flew everywhere. In spite of Jonah's struggles, the Red Ranger threw him over his shoulder. Sienna tried to get up, but she was too dizzy. Tasting blood in her mouth, she watched helplessly as the evil Ranger teleported away with Jonah.

***Manticore Studio Lot #4, 6:44 pm***

Jonah sat in the middle of the empty lot, hands and feet tied with scratchy rope. The Red Ranger's Zord, a massive Copperhead Snake, coiled around him in a massive spiral. Its driver leaned against its hull, fingering his blowgun.

Something clanged on the Zord's hull, making Jonah jump. The Red Ranger straightened, and squinted towards the noise. As Jonah tried to see, the Ranger strode up to him. Grabbing the back of his shirt, the bad guy dragged him upright.

"I know you're out there?" He shouted. "Come out where I can see you or else."

Jonah shifted a little: the rope was rubbing his wrist, and it was annoying. The Red Ranger didn't seem to care.

Footsteps pattered on the Zord's hull, and the Yellow Ranger hopped over its body, landing in a crouch. She held up her hands to show she was unarmed.

"Give me your morpher and you can have him," the Red Ranger said.

The Yellow Ranger shook her head. "How do I know you won't just crush or vaporize us if I hand it over?"

"You don't."

"Well, okay then." The Yellow Ranger snapped her fingers, and Jonah heard something behind him. The Red Ranger whirled and hit the ground, dragging Jonah down with him. A frozen Spider Drone slammed into the pavement where they'd been standing, sending splinters of icy metal in every direction.

The Red Ranger scrambled back to his feet, only to see an orange gun materialize apparently out of thin air. It fired, hurling him to the ground. Before he could recover, a wave of ice overtook him, freezing his legs in place. The Penguinzord swooped overhead and opened its beak, firing a volley of icy projectiles at the lot. Still tied up, Jonah couldn't get away, so he shut his eyes and hoped it wouldn't hurt too much.

To his surprise, the next thing Jonah felt wasn't ice or lasers, but arms wrapping around him. He opened his eyes just as the Yellow Ranger somersaulted, flipping both of them out of the way. The ice blast hit the ground and exploded, sending blue flames and shards of ice flying. More missiles struck all around them, and throwing Jonah flat, the Yellow Ranger shielded him with her body.

There was a loud rumble, and the Copperhead Snakezord began to move. The Red Ranger had made it to the cockpit. As the Penguinzord's volley ended, the Yellow Ranger summoned a Sunbeam Dagger. She sliced through Jonah's bonds with shaking hands.

". . . Magda?" He asked.

The Yellow Ranger put a hand on his shoulder. The ice shards had sliced through her glove, and her hand bled. "Careful. Secret identity, remember?"

Jonah hugged her. Picking him up, the Yellow Ranger zipped out of the battlefield almost too quickly to see, setting him in a tree. She started to back up, but Jonah grabbed at her.

"Please stay," he begged. "Let the other Rangers fight. You're hurt."

"It's nothing," the Yellow Ranger replied. Jonah wouldn't let go. With a sigh, she put a hand on his face. "I wish I could stay, and not just for right now. But you're in enough danger as it is."

Jonah nodded slowly, although he wanted to keep arguing. In the distance, the Copperhead Snakezord wound around the Foxzord, trying to bite through its hull. The crashing and screeching metal carried through the lot.

"This is never going to happen again, I promise you," the Yellow Ranger said. "I'll be keeping an eye on you from now on, okay? I'll visit too, when I can."

Jonah managed a smile. Another crash carried from the battlefield: the Copperhead Snakezord had tangled the Fox's legs and made it fall over.

"Go teach that Orange guy how to pilot a Zord the right way," Jonah said, grinning.

Backing up a step, the Yellow Ranger saluted him. "Yes sir!" With that, she ninja-streaked away.

A shadow passed overhead, and the Kiwizord appeared. Jonah just glimpsed a yellow flash as the Yellow Ranger teleported inside. As Jonah watched, gripping the tree branches with white knuckles, the three Season Zords combined into the Megazord—the Iguana joining them at the very last second. It landed with a boom that made the trees all quiver.

Picking itself up, the Copperhead Snakezord began to slither away, towards the city. The Megazord began to follow, stepping delicately to avoid the surviving trailers and sets scattered around the studio lots.

"Come back!" Jonah protested. He wanted to see how the fight ended—hopefully with the Megazord tying the Copperhead Snakezord into a knot.

As it reached the edge of the city, the Megazord raised one leg high, and brought it down with a thud. Getting up, Jonah climbed higher in the tree, trying to get a better look. He could just make out the Snakezord writhing under the Megazord's boot. Raising its free hand, the Megazord snatched a pike out of the air, whirled and stabbed it straight down.

Jonah couldn't see the impact, but he did see the fireballs and smoke, and heard the distant boom. He whooped and almost fell out of the tree. Catching himself, he watched as the Megazord stepped back and struck a pose in front of the biggest, final explosion.

***Persephone Café, 7:30 pm***

The all-clear alarms were still wailing as Alice opened the basement door. The kitchen looked okay, but she could smell smoke. Bracing herself for the worst, Alice turned towards the front of the café. She let out a loud groan. The front windows were broken. Again. Debris had also taken out a couple of the tables.

Carrying a broom and a bucket, Alice trudged towards the mess. As she tried to think of something they could put up instead of highly breakable plate glass windows, she heard some of the debris groan.

Dropping broom and bucket, Alice darted over to the source of the noise. Pulling aside chunks of broken table and twisted—and still very hot—metal, she uncovered a dark-skinned man, her age or a little older, who looked pretty battered. He stirred at her touch.

"Oh no—you're going to be okay, just don't move," Alice said, fumbling for her phone.

***Trivia***

The concept for the Jonah plot comes from _Kamen Rider W_, specifically the two-parter "The Girl . . . A," which did a better job of it than me.


	28. Chapter 28: High Noon

Disclaimer: Power Rangers belongs to Saban, Chris and Alex belong to Neoangelius, and my OCs to me.

_Last time we saw the Terra and Shinobi Rangers: Nico and Chris destroyed a monster who had previously been one of Nico's old classmates, and the daughter of the Sensei of the Metal Ninjas. Korassil promised her revenge, and the two Rangers parted ways, Nico acting on seeds of doubt planted by Alex, who'd befriended him out-of-morph._

***February 17th, Northern Castle Ridge, 10:43 am***

Hands shoved in his pockets, Nico looked over the row of gleaming new motorcycles. His Mom still refused, point-blank, to let him get one, even for Ranger work—and she said that would be suspicious anyway. She seemed to care more about preserving his secret identity than he did.

Nico lost his train of thought when someone shoved him from behind, hard. Instinctively, he whirled and dropped into a fighting stance, only to see a perfectly ordinary guy his age standing behind him. Well, not quite ordinary; something around his ankle made a lump under the right leg of his jeans.

The other teen glanced back, and to his surprise, Nico recognized him.

"Qing?" He asked incredulously.

The other boy went to shove Nico against the storefront, but he ducked and headbutted Qing in the stomach. As he doubled over, Nico picked him up by the waist and threw him over his shoulder. He hit the snow heaped up on the sidewalk and crumpled with a grunt.

"What are you doing?" Nico demanded, as the Chinese teenager picked himself up painfully. "We're on the same side."

"What makes you think that?" Qing raised a fist, and it turned into granite with a rumble.

Nico's eyes widened, and he ducked the first punch, catching Qing's following hook on his own now-stone arm. "You're working for Korassil?"

"I'm trying to get what's rightfully mine!" Qing gave a significant look to the morpher on Nico's wrist.

Nico responded by shoving Qing back, and then delivering a solid axe kick to the side of his head. The other Terra ninja fell, and Nico ninja-streaked away. He finally stopped near the northernmost coal refinery, and caught his breath.

"What _was_ that?" He asked himself aloud. "Korassil sending other students after me? Then why not just turn all stone and then attack?"

"Good question." The cold female voice behind Nico made him jump. A rock hand clamped down on the back of his neck and swung him around, slamming him into the chainlink fence. It rattled. Nico found himself on the other end of a hard glare.

"Juliet? What's going on?"

"What Qing said."

Juliet swung Nico around again, but this time he had the sense to turn his body into stone before he hit the ground. She brought a foot down on his chest with a dull boom. Catching her ankle, Nico thrust his entire body upwards to throw her off-balance, and then rolled over. Sure enough, Juliet fell, and Nico pinned her beneath him.

"That's not good enough," he said, as she struggled. "Who put you up to this? Korassil?"

"Sensei Giry," Juliet snapped. She arched her back, hooking a leg around one of his, and pushed. Both of her feet cracked the frozen ground as she flipped upright, tossing Nico flat.

"Is this about Angela? I didn't have a choice about that," Nico retorted.

"That was just the final straw!" Juliet lunged, fist aimed at Nico's head, but he rolled. She buried her arm up to the elbow in the ground. As she struggled to free herself, Nico scrambled to his feet and ninja-streaked away once more.

This time, he landed in the park. He barely had a chance to breathe before getting body-slammed to the ground. He couldn't even breathe for a long minute, and then pain shot through his ribs, making him wheeze. As his newest attacker held him down, slender fingers began prying at the morpher on his wrist.

"Okay, okay!" Nico yelled, swatting at the hand. "Didn't want to do this, but I'm out of options. Terra Storm, Ranger Form!"

Blue light enveloped him, and the morpher thief fell back. Strengthened by the transformation, Nico shoved the other attacker away and flipped himself upright. The thief, a much younger and scrawnier boy, ran to help the brawny guy who'd knocked Nico down.

"What's going on!?" Nico yelled at them. "I've been trying to help, taken down monster after monster, but one mistake and everyone turns against me?"

"I was trying to make a point," a woman's voice rang out. As Nico watched, a silver streak of liquid metal slithered through the snow like a snake, rearing up between him and the other ninjas. It formed into Master Giry, still in uniform, not even a hair out of place. Unlike the others, she wore no ankle tracker.

A little mollified, but still confused, Nico left his fighting stance. He didn't demorph, though. "What point?"

"That if we wanted, we could run you ragged through sheer force of numbers," Master Giry replied. "So you'd understand that when we offered you single combat for your morpher, you wouldn't laugh it off."

Nico folded his arms. "Single combat?"

"You choose the time and the place. You will face one of your fellow Stone ninjas. Whoever wins receives the morpher you stole," Master Giry said.

"Meaning if you win, Korassil gets the whole set," Nico replied.

Master Giry quirked an eyebrow at him. Nico sighed in exasperation. "Fine. Tomorrow at noon, the practice field. If this is a trap—"

"Korassil has promised not to interfere, and he is a being of his word."

A distant rumble interrupted the conversation, and Nico looked around. In the distance, almost too far away to see, a giant samurai in golden armor rose. With a roar, the Tigerzord leaped to meet it, claws extended and fangs bared.

Nico cracked his knuckles, and glanced back at Giry. "I won't be late."

She gave a single nod of acknowledgment, and Nico ninja-streaked away.

***City Limits, Castle Ridge, 11:06 am***

Straddling the railroad tracks, the giant samurai raised his sword with both hands. The washed-out winter sunlight made his blade glow white. Streaming energy, he brought it down on the Tigerzord's head, slicing through the Zord's hull and knocking it down. Inside the cockpit, Chris was thrown against his console hard enough to knock the wind out of him.

Before the samurai could strike again, the Cougarzord slammed into him from behind, claws tearing at his armor. The samurai swung around, dragging his new attacker off-balance. Panting, Chris stood, and checked his Zord's systems. Damaged, but he could still fight.

"Thanks," Chris panted, as the Tigerzord picked itself up. "This guy's the Solar Samurai; he gets power from the sun."

Nico didn't say anything; his Zord held on for dear life as the Solar Samurai tried to get a good angle to strike. Every movement flattened a row of trees with splintering crashes. Chris looked down at his own katana, and drew it. The blade almost hummed out of the sheath.

"Let's try something new, Asamune. Battle Mode!" Whirling the sword, Chris sheathed it in a slot in the console, and pushed forward. The control panel shifted, and the Tigerzord's inner workings rumbled. Before him, the Solar Samurai finally managed to shake the Cougarzord off, and it slammed into the ground with a boom.

_Slowly, the Tigerzord rises upright on its hind legs, forelegs folding to the sides. The paws open up, and hands materialize in the undersides, beneath the claws. With the pops and whirring of gears, its' knees bend the other way. The head slides up and back, jaw dropping to expose a face inside the mouth._

Raising clenched fists, the now-humanoid Tigerzord rabbit-punched the Solar Samurai in the chest. Its claws gashed his armor, but he caught the last blow on his sword. The Cougarzord, upright once more, sprang and bit down on the Solar Samurai's leg. Katana flashing in the sunlight, the monster sent a beam of fiery light into the Cougarzord's near eye, which exploded.

As his fellow Ranger fell back, Chris aimed a kick at the bite wound, dropping the Solar Samurai to one knee. The monster fired another energy beam at the Tigerzord, but it simply swerved to the side. The fire burned out harmlessly in midair.

As Chris got ready for his finishing move, however, a blinding white light enveloped the Solar Samurai. Even with his windshield and tinted visor, Chris had to shield his eyes with an arm. When he looked again, the monster was gone.

Drawing Asamune from the console, Chris hit the "return to base" command, and leaped out of his Zord as it began to turn back into a tiger. Several trees smoked quietly, and the battle had felled a wide clearing. Chris glimpsed a blue blur land on the ground, and ninja-streaked over.

"Blue Ranger!" Stopping up short, the Blue Ranger slowly turned to face Chris, folding his arms. "We're going to need some Zord repairs. You call the guy; I'll see if I can figure out what happened to the Solar Samurai."

"They're attacking farther and farther away from the city. Think they're going to go after some other city?"

Chris shrugged. "Maybe. Does it matter?"

"Plenty. Not my city, not my problem." Nico's tone was guarded.

"What? You're a Ranger, the whole reason you have that morpher—"

"I've got enough problems of my own without adopting some other city. Are we done?" Nico snapped. "If all you're going to do is lecture then I'm leaving."

Chris simply folded his arms, glaring through his visor at Nico. Turning, the Blue Ranger ninja-streaked away. With a growl, Chris turned back to the battlefield, and began looking for any likely energy traces.

***Olino Pub, 7:33 pm***

"Rough day?" Alex asked, as Nico dropped into the seat beside him. The Blue Ranger had a few visible bruises and abrasions, though he'd band-aided several of those up. Quiet chatter filled the bar.

Nico shook his head. "Better not. Going to need to be in top shape for tomorrow."

"Why? What's tomorrow?" Alex asked. Nico gave a one-shouldered shrug, fingering a fork prong-shaped dent in the table. "It's okay, you can tell me—I don't need all the details." Nico glanced up at him. Alex grinned, and held up two fingers. "Scout's honor."

"You're Canadian," Nico replied.

"We've got Scouts too. Now talk, I can tell this is really bothering you."

Nico sighed, and took a moment to gather his thoughts. "You know I go to this weird private school, right?" Alex nodded. "Well, I kind of accidentally got an important position, kind of like Head Boy or something. I've been doing pretty good, and I like it, but not everybody's happy I'm the one doing it. One of the teachers set up a competition tomorrow. Whoever wins keeps the spot."

"The same kind of thing that got you the job in the first place?" Alex asked.

Nico nodded. Alex said nothing for a minute, just took a drink. The radio began playing an obnoxiously catchy pop song in the background. Drumming his fingers on the tabletop, Nico wondered if he could allow himself just one drink. He couldn't get a hangover from just one.

"You want advice or just listening?" Alex asked, setting his drink down. "I'm okay with whatever you want."

Nico laughed a little. "Any advice would be great, if you can think of something."

"This competition, it's the same kind of thing you did to get the job, right?"

"Yeah, and pretty much what I've been doing since then."

"Then make sure you show them exactly why _you_ got it and _they_ didn't," Alex said. "I mean, if they were really as good as they think, you wouldn't have gotten it 'by accident.' Maybe you came up with something they never thought of?"

Nico thought about it for a moment, and his face lit up in a smile. "Thanks, that helps."

"Great. So, drinking's out, how about I show you a few more tips on talking to girls?" Alex asked, glancing past Nico. "A couple of likely-looking ones just walked in."

Nico grinned. "Lead the way."

***February 18th, Practice Field, Terra Academy, 11:55 am***

Just about the entire school had turned out for the duel. Someone had set up a ring in the middle of the field, and even put the school banners back up again. It almost looked normal—but weirdly quiet.

Nico ninja-streaked out of the forest, landing on the edge of the crowd. Spotting him, the students parted, opening a path towards the ring. Nobody said anything. The only noise came from a few birds twittering in the surrounding forest.

Throwing his shoulders back, Nico marched through the crowd. After his Mom had gone to work for the day, he'd pulled out her sewing stuff and mended his uniform, and now it looked almost like new.

Master Giry stood in the center of the ring, with Master Hochstetter—Nico's actual teacher—on the far side. Nico couldn't see his opponent anywhere. Reaching the ring, he ducked through the ropes and stood, arms folded and watching the teachers expectantly.

Master Giry looked him up and down, and cleared her throat. Nico knew what the expression meant: he was supposed to be standing at attention, hands behind his back. He just raised his eyebrows.

Ignoring it, Master Giry began to speak. "This match will decide the ownership of the Stone Morpher. The winner will be the first to score five points—hits to the head or body—in as many rounds as necessary. Our combatants are Nico Ramirez and Hoa Thi Pinh."

Nico looked up in time to see a tall Vietnamese girl step out of the crowd. She carried herself ramrod-straight, and a long black braid bounced against her back. Outside the ring, she bowed to Hochstetter, and inside to Giry and Nico. He bowed back, though not as deeply.

Master Giry stepped out of the ring. Hoa took a fighting stance, taut and exact, and Nico followed suit. He half-grinned, but Hoa's face was carefully blank.

"Begin."

Moving almost too fast to see, Hoa launched a tornado kick at Nico's head. He ducked, only to catch a hook across the ear as she landed. The blow made him dizzy, and he staggered. Turning it into a somersault, he rolled between her legs, taking a karate chop between the shoulderblades. Already winded, he sprang to his feet again.

Nico only just sprang back to avoid the thrust of a side kick: Hoa's bare sole bumped his stomach. He threw a sloppy roundhouse kick, and winced as his foot hit her stomach at an awkward angle. Catching him by the leg, Hoa kicked his other out from under him. Before he could recover, she'd punched him in the gut.

"Hold! Point," Giry shouted.

Releasing Nico, Hoa stood, returning to her original mark in the ring. Panting, Nico picked himself up and followed suit. After a moment, to allow him to catch his breath, Giry nodded once more.

This time, as Hoa sprang at Nico, he ducked and kneed her in the groin. As she staggered with a grunt of pain, he seized her braid and swung her around, throwing her to the floor. Alarmed shouts and whispers broke out among the watching students.

"Foul!" Master Giry shouted.

"So what?" Nico yelled back. A shocked silence fell over the crowd. "You heard me. So. What?" Turning away from Hoa, he faced the group. "That's the problem with you people. Those space ninjas? They're not going to fight clean either, and you people just don't get it. You're like that Egyptian guy with the sword in Indiana Jones—doesn't matter how good you are if the other guy has a gun."

Turning, Nico reached down and picked Hoa up. Trying to preserve some dignity, she dusted herself off and stepped back, looking to the teachers.

"Point made, Ramirez," Master Giry said at last.

"Thank you. Can I go now?"

Silently, Master Giry nodded. Hopping over the ropes, Nico slipped back through the crowd, feeling very pleased with himself. He looked around, just to make sure, but no monsters or foot soldiers were even in sight. With a shrug, he ninja-streaked into the woods, heading back down the mountainside.

***Korassil's Ship, 12:32 pm***

"So, you're not going to ambush him?" Alex asked, leaning on the console. He could see Nico zipping down the mountainside on one of the screens.

"Why bother? Your plan seems to be going well, I see no reason to break our bargain with Giry or the others," Korassil replied. "I keep my word." Alex chuckled, but stopped as the space ninja gave him a hard stare. "What is so funny about that?"

"Nothing, but that attitude will probably come back to bite you someday," Alex said.

Korassil turned back towards the screen. "We shall see."

***Trivia***

As implied by the massive amount of unmorphed fighting, this episode is pretty independent from the Sentai version. That had a much sillier monster which actually piloted the robotic Solar Samurai (one reason we have not seen the last of it . . .).


	29. Chapter 29: Heroic Backlash

Disclaimer: Power Rangers belongs to Saban, Wyatt and Rat to WolfsbaneX, Micky and Zart to DeathDealer1997, Jess to Rye Lee, and Alex to Neoangelius.

_Last time we saw the Earthlight Rangers: Rat was attacked by Schizofreak, a personality-reversing monster who turned him into a reckless hero. In their next fight, Jess and Wyatt also got switched, Jess becoming antagonistically apathetic and Wyatt brilliant. Finding one of Xumara's nanocams, Wyatt secretly offered to negotiate with her._

***February 23rd, Kai House, Palencia, 2:14 pm***

"No, I don't know where that stupid morpher thing went, stop asking!" Jess snapped at Wyatt. "Why do you care so much? Just leave me alone!"

With that, she stormed out of the study, slamming the door behind her. Rat almost fell off the bookshelf ladder, catching himself just in time. He dropped the long-handled dusting brush, and it clunked on the carpeted floor. Sighing, Wyatt rose, twirling the amulet he had been able to talk off of his Pink teammate.

"A pity. I honestly can't tell if she's lying or if she genuinely lost it."

Rat climbed down the ladder. "That's not good. Do you think Xumara might have gotten ahold of her morpher?"

"Perhaps. We need to find it in any case."

"I can look!" Rat offered immediately, grabbing the brush once more. "Once I'm done here, anyway."

"Which brings me to ask, what _are_ you doing?" Wyatt eyed the brush.

"Just helping out Angela. One of the maids," Rat clarified, climbing back up the ladder once more. "She didn't sleep very well last night and I didn't think she should be working up high on a ladder when she was half-awake."

"I see. Well, while you're looking, can I borrow your morpher?"

Rat paused. "What for?"

"I've had an idea for upgrading the Zords—so we can use our Power Sphere attacks individually, not just in Megazord formation," Wyatt replied. "I've already done it to my Zord—it's still in testing—but I'm going to need your morpher to work on the Fireflyzord."

It wasn't entirely a lie: Wyatt had been in the Zord Hangar earlier, studying prototypes of their weapons, when he'd gotten the idea. Whether or not they switched their personalities back, this team was so disjointed that they couldn't count on having all members present to form a Megazord every time it was needed. Enabling each Zord to fight more effectively made the most sense. Of course, all he'd had to do was mention this to the technicians for them to start working on the upgrade, but it made a convenient excuse to take Rat's morpher.

"Really? Cool!" Unstrapping his morpher, Rat tossed it down to Wyatt, who caught it and the amulet which soon followed. "Just give it back as soon as possible. We don't know when Xumara will strike next."

"Don't worry about it," Wyatt replied, pocketing the morpher.

***Flora Marketplace, Palencia, 5:10 pm***

Rat wandered through the evening crowd, shadowing Jess. It felt like he'd followed her all over the city, and still he'd found nothing. She'd bought a couple of snacks, eaten half of them and dropped the rest (sending Rat on a litter cleanup), and just brooded her way through Palencia.

Dropping onto a bench with a sigh, Rat watched the Pink Ranger pick through a rack of clothes. He wanted to be doing something important, like fighting monsters or helping people, but here he was, following Jess in the vain hope that she'd lead him to her morpher.

Letting his gaze drift over the crowd, Rat caught a flash of red in the mass of tourists. Eyes widening, he sat up suddenly. Sure enough, it was Micky, sidling through the crowd with a very guilty look on his face. An idea struck Rat, and he stood.

"Hey, Micky!" He called. The thief jumped at the sound of his name, looking ready to run, but Rat reached him in time to stop him. "Don't panic, I'm not going to get you in trouble or anything."

"How would you get me in trouble? I don't even know you!" Micky retorted.

Rat glanced around warily, leaned in close and whispered, "I'm the Green Ranger."

"Get out of here," Micky replied, smirking. "Do you think I'm stupid or something?"

Rat didn't bat an eye. "Last time we talked you described Xumara attacking and infecting a scientist in exchange for five thousand dollars." Micky's eyes widened, and he muttered something incredulous in Maya. Rat plunged onward, pointing at Jess. "See that blonde over there?"

Micky gave her a cursory glance. "Yeah, what about her?"

"Did you see her carrying . . . well, it looks kind of like a cell phone or a large battery on a bracelet, covered in copper rings."

Micky's expression became calculating. "Maybe."

"You stole it," Rat said flatly.

"Who, me?" Micky protested. "I'm just a kid, I couldn't—"

"I can't believe you'd do something so dangerous!" Rat snapped. "Do you have any idea what that thing does? Or who's after it?"

"I told you, I didn't take the cell phone thing!" Micky tried to run, but Rat grabbed him by the collar. "Come on, please let me go, I can't help you."

"You don't have to do this," Rat said, trying to sound gentle. "Stealing to survive, hiding from your Dad. Just tell the cops what he's doing—I could do it—"

"If you tell anybody I'll go to juvenile detention! That's even worse than my Dad," Micky whined, trying to wriggle out of Rat's grip. "Have a heart. Aren't you supposed to be a superhero? Don't you help poor kids like me? Please let go. Pleeeease?"

Rat sighed. "Seven thousand dollars."

"I'll go get it."

"Good."

***February 24th, Xihuitl Fishery, Palencia, 9:45 pm***

It was evening, and Xumara stood on the dock, incongruous against the rusty metal and rotting wood around her. The wind tugged at the blue streamers of her outfit. Hearing footsteps, she looked up to see Wyatt striding towards her. Hands shoved in his pants pockets, he stopped and leaned against a railing.

"You came," he said.

"So did you. Now, I want your morphers," Xumara said, coming closer. "I'm willing to let you leave with your lives."

"You'll have to do better than that. We can stay alive for a comfortably long time by fighting you," Wyatt replied.

Xumara chuckled. "Unless I destroy you."

"Wrong. If you could, you would have already—unless killing us isn't your goal," Wyatt said, in a more thoughtful tone. He studied Xumara. "But what else would you want?"

"Irrelevant," Xumara said, eyes narrowing.

"Oh, I don't think so." Wyatt strolled towards her. "If you truly wanted us dead, you'd have let Zart fry this city, and anywhere else we tried to flee. I think you want something more."

"Yes. Your morphers," Xumara replied curtly, and held out a hand. "Stop stalling."

Reaching into a pocket, Wyatt pulled out all three morphers, along with their amulets. "You don't know how much work it took for me to keep this away from Rat for so long. Schizofreak should have left him alone. Incidentally, why is he called Schizofreak? What he does is closer to dissociative personality disorder than schizophrenia."

"All's well that ends well," Xumara said, walking forward with upraised hand. But as she did, Kelzak Berserks fanned out around them. Wyatt noticed, though his expression didn't change.

Xumara gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I lied about letting you live."

"That's all right: I lied too," Wyatt replied, pulling his real morpher out from under his jacket. Xumara's eyes widened, and she grabbed for the real morpher, but the burst of morphing energy hurled her into a pile of crates. They collapsed under her, bugs scrambling out in a panic at the invasion of their home.

Out from behind another building ran Rat, dragging Jess. She shook his arm off and tried to go the other way, but Kelzak Berserks blocked her path. With an audible huff, she folded her arms and glared at the foot soldiers.

"Mockups, from the design phase of the morphers. Did you really think I'd trust you?" Wyatt asked, summoning his Magma Knuckles. He tsked.

Xumara's eyes narrowed. "Well played," she said, and backed up, throwing the fake morphers away. They broke against the concrete, exposing white plaster under the paint.

"Schizofreak! Fun's over, finish them off!" She yelled. The monster appeared, and stepped forward. His staff's magnet sprouted two blades, and he whirled it with an evil cackle.

Rat charged immediately with a loud yell. He hacked and slashed at the monster. Jess made a run for it, but Kelzak Berserks blocked her path. Retracting her visor, Jess blew fire at them, scaring them back and setting a couple on fire.

Wyatt raised his hands. Both of his fists glowed red-hot, and steam clouded the air around them. With a yell, he charged, punching the foot soldiers. At contact, their faceless masks cracked, and they fell back with yells, heads burning.

"Rat, get him to blast Jess!" Wyatt yelled.

"What?" Schizofreak shook Rat off, and he hit a wall and rolled.

"I think I've had enough of you," the monster snarled, and blasted the Green Ranger with his energy waves. Rat crumpled. Recovering, he looked around in alarm at the foot soldiers closing in on him, and created a blinding flash. When it faded, he was nowhere to be seen. Schizofreak turned on Wyatt.

"Jess!" Wyatt seized her from behind and swung her around to take the blast for him. She shrieked, and quickly tore out of Wyatt's grasp, letting him get a full dose of the energy waves.

The monster backed up. Jess charged, firing flaming arrows at it. Wyatt followed a second later, but a green blur shot past them, slamming into Schizofreak and knocking him down. Rat stood over it, Glow Jutte blazing in his hands.

"Rat!" Jess yelled.

"This is for that city cleanup!" He shouted, striking Schizofreak as he tried to rise. "And this is for that dog in the road! And the litter, and the old ladies crossing the street, and the purse snatchers, and all those cats up in trees!" Rat raised his Glow Jutte over his head, lowering his voice to a dark whisper. "And this is for making me look like a moron the whole time. **_Glowworm Drill!"_**

Green energy blazed from his crossed weapons, tunneling into Schizofreak's body and filling him with light. The monster screamed once before he exploded. The blast picked Rat up, but he backflipped and landed in a crouch. As the wind picked up, the smoke blew away, leaving a blackened spot on the dock. Panting, Rat lowered his weapons, sending them back where they'd come from.

"Wow," Jess said, "That was amazing, Rat—"

"Shut up!" Rat snarled, facing them as he demorphed. He was almost shaking. "That was the most awful week of my life! Is that what being a hero is? That was awful!"

"You kind of overdid it," Wyatt put in.

"It was nice for you, wasn't it?" Rat replied bitterly. "You would have liked to keep me that way, wouldn't you? A stupid hero."

Jess shook her head vehemently. "No, that was a joke—"

"Look, just shut up and leave me alone! I never wanted any part of this, and nobody said I had to stick with it. I'm going home!" Rat turned and walked away.

"Rat, don't!" Jess started to follow, only to be interrupted by a boom. Schizofreak was growing giant-sized. She and Wyatt exchanged a helpless look, and Rat bolted into the city.

"We should take care of this first," Wyatt said.

"I know." Jess gave one last look in Rat's direction.

***Xumara's Ship, Palencia Airspace, 10:23 pm***

"I know how you feel," Alex said, nodding sympathetically. "That's the trouble with these space ninjas; they're so . . . cautious."

"Cowardly," Zart snorted. "I could wipe out the city in a day, the country in under a week. That would solve the Ranger problem. But no, we have to be delicate, send one monster down at a time, play stupid games to try to get their morphers! Who needs morphers when you've got the firepower to roast a planet?"

Alex frowned thoughtfully. "Well, there's always the risk of the military or past Rangers showing up and spoiling things, even if you do take care of these guys, but I think you're right about Xumara."

Zart rolled his eyes. "You're just like the rest of them, scheming instead of just killing. I bet you call it 'destroying,' too—what makes everyone so squeamish about one little word, I don't know."

"Yes, I'd say I want to destroy Chris," Alex said, drawing a snort from Zart. "But that's because 'kill' wouldn't cover it. Sure, I could step out of a shadow and stab my brother in his sleep. But that wouldn't be satisfying—he's hurt me too much for an easy death. Instead, I'll let him think he's winning for a while. He'll relax, start enjoying himself, make friends, maybe even fall in love. Then, once he thinks everything is finally going his way, I'll cut the bottom out from under him. His friends will suffer and die one by one, I'll pulverize each of his weapons, I will take everything he's come to care about."

A cruel smile etched itself on Alex's face. "Then, when he's been completely destroyed, and begs me for death, I'll grant his wish."

Zart just stared at Alex for a long minute. Very faintly, the sounds of explosions from the Zord battle in Palencia below carried into the room. At last, the pyrokinetic grinned.

"Alex, you're a man after my own heart."

"Thanks. So, got any plans of your own?" Alex asked, shifting in his seat. "I mean, between now and obliterating the planet."

"Well, the Pink Ranger has fire powers, and she's pretty good with them. I've been thinking I might make her my sidekick," Zart said, almost shyly. His smile faded. "But Xumara wouldn't let me even if she knew. She's got plans of her own that she won't tell me about."

"Does she?" Alex asked, frowning a little. "That's funny; she hasn't said anything during the briefing sessions."

Zart perked up. "You think she might be up to something?"

"Hmm . . . it seems a little early to tell. Still, you might keep an eye on her, try to find out these secret plans. Also, I think you should go ahead and try to recruit Pinkie."

"Really?"

"Sure. I mean, if you win her over then you've got a morpher _and_ a willing user," Alex replied, shrugging. "That's what you're there to get, after all."

"Sure, right," Zart said. At that point, someone knocked sharply on his door, and he groaned. "Great, the harpy wants me again. Good luck destroying your brother!"

"And good luck getting the Pink Ranger!" Alex replied, ending the call.

***Trivia***

Schizofreak was named so because a lot of people, including myself at one point, is often confused with dissociative/multiple personality disorder. Originally the joke was going to be made in the previous Earthlight chapter, which would also have included Xumara and Wyatt's confrontation, but when the chapter expanded into two, it fell over here.


End file.
